


Our Happy Ending

by snowstormdaydreams



Category: Secret Life of the American Teenager (TV)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Amy and Ricky deserved their happy ending, Ben and Adrian bashing, Cute, F/M, Family, Happy, Married Couple, Married Life, Married flirting, Mentions of Sex, Ricky is a good husband, So Married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:27:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 39,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26374225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowstormdaydreams/pseuds/snowstormdaydreams
Summary: Amy and Ricky deserved to be married and happy, raising their son together and living as a family.
Relationships: Adrian Lee/ Omar, Amy Juergens/Ricky Underwood, George Juergens/ Kathleen Bowman, John Juergens & Amy Juergens, John Juergens & Ricky Underwood, Margaret Shakur/ Sanjay Shakur
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	1. ****

**Author's Note:**

  * For [karathegoddess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/karathegoddess/gifts).



Ricky smirked in amusement as he watched Amy rush around, shoving things into both her bag and John’s. Leaning back against the counter, he took a sip of his coffee, unable to take his eyes off of her. As it so often did, his gaze caught on the sparkle of her engagement ring, and traveled to the wedding band beneath it. The sun streamed through the window, casting a warm glow on her, and he was once again overwhelmed with how much he loved her.

She was still rushing around and his smirk spread out into a grin as she continued to put things in John’s bag. “He’s going to preschool, not on an adventure with Dora.”

Amy glanced up to look at him in confusion, and he nodded to the map she’d been about to put in John’s bag. She scowled halfheartedly at him, pulling the map back out and putting it in her own. “By the way, I didn’t know you needed crayons for history today.”

Glancing into her bag, her face flushed slightly. “Why aren’t you as nervous as I am?”

“Because John has been going to daycare for his whole life, preschool won’t be a problem. Besides, if I get nervous, you’ll get even more nervous, and you’ll probably try to talk me into waiting.”

She looked at him hopefully. “Can we? Please? He can go to preschool in a few months.”

“Preschool starts today, Amy, you know that. You’ll see him when you bring him to the church daycare the same way you always do.”

“But…”

He leveled her with a stern look, sure that the fondness nearly negated it. “It’s going to be good for him,” he held out his coffee cup to her, “it will be fine.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. If it’s not, I’ll make it fine.”

She sighed softly, walking around the table to take the mug and taking a sip. Wrapping an arm around her waist he pulled her closer. “Did I tell you good morning yet?”

Putting the coffee on the counter behind him, she shook her head, arms coming up around his neck. “Nope.”

He leaned forward to kiss her. It had been meant to be a chaste kiss, but it quickly grew more heated, and he forced himself to pull away, staring down at her. “Thank you for marrying me.”

Amy grinned. “I would marry you every day of my life if I could.”

“As amazing as that sounds, we barely had time to get married the first time,” he kissed her forehead, “I swear someday we’ll have a big wedding and a very long honeymoon somewhere other than our apartment.”

She smiled coyly. “I don’t know, I really liked our apartment honeymoon,” she shook her head, “besides, I don’t need a big wedding. I liked our wedding. Just us and John. I love it when it’s just the three of us.”

“Me too. And, I love you.”

“I love you.” Amy tilted her head and studied his face. “You have something on your mind.”

“I don’t.” She raised an eyebrow and he sighed. “We haven’t had a lot time for just us lately. Between school and work and John and our families constantly dropping in and inviting us to dinner… Let’s do something fun this weekend.”

It was her turn to smirk. “We always do something fun on the weekends. And usually a few times during the week.”

He chuckled. “I mean something fun outside of our bed. Let’s take an overnight trip or go to that art exhibit you were talking about. Or, we could go to the driving range.”

She was quiet for so long, he got nervous. Her expression was one he knew but could never quite pinpoint the meaning behind. “Let’s go to the driving range. I never did get good at hitting the ball.”

He tightened his hold on her. “I’ll give you some pointers. Maybe some more close, personal attention could help.”

“It almost always has before.”

“Are you flirting with me, Mrs. Underwood?”

“Don’t tell my husband, he might never forgive me,” she smiled, eyes bright.

Leaning down to kiss her, he could feel her smile against his lips. “I’m sure he would. He trusts you absolutely, and absolutely doesn’t care who you flirt with.” She raised an eyebrow. “Ok, well, he does. But, I do trust you. Plus, you’re wearing my ring. What do I care if someone wants to flirt with you? Nothing would ever come of it.”

“Never,” she nodded solemnly, “and by the way, I trust you too. Although I like it much better when you flirt with me.”

“You and me both,” he leaned down for another chaste kiss. “John will be up any minute. Why were we up so early anyways?”

“Because I wouldn’t let you sleep, so you wanted coffee. Plus I had to get all our lunches and stuff together. Did you finish your paper last night?”

“It was so quiet I flew through it. Thank you for taking John out.”

“You do it for me.”

Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he smiled. “Because we’re partners.” They heard rustling from John’s room and exchanged a smile before breaking apart and Amy walked away to get their son ready. 

The rest of the morning passed in a blur. When they finally dropped John at the preschool, he couldn’t say for sure who cried more, Amy or John. She hesitated even once John had settled in, and Ricky practically had to drag her out so they wouldn’t be late for school. 

It was one of the days where their schedules lined up enough that they could drive in together. He loved those days, and things always seemed to get off to a better start when they walked onto campus together. They reached the center of the quad, and she seemed as reluctant to leave him as she’d been to leave John.

He turned to her when they stopped. “You’re being weird today.”

“No I’m not.” When he looked at her incredulously, she tilted her head. “Ok, maybe a little. Separation anxiety.”

“From me or John?”

She bit her lip. “Both, kind of. I think you’re right, we haven’t been spending lots of time together. Sometimes it just feels more overwhelming then other times. I think I’m in one of those times.” Taking his hand, she fiddled with his wedding ring. “I should have just told you.”

“Probably. But you’re happy, right? No regrets?”

Amy smiled reassuringly. “Never. Just overwhelmed. How about you?”

He loved how she sounded so concerned even though it was unwarranted. “I’m doing just fine. And until you’re feeling just fine, I can pick up a little of the slack.”

“But…”

“You’ve done the exact same thing for me. Like when you picked up so much slack because I was a little overwhelmed when I first got here. You sacrificed your last summer in high school to do that. Or when you did the same thing over the summer so _I_ could take extra classes. So now I can do it for you.” When she still seemed reluctant, he squeezed her hand. “We’re partners, and I love you, but we can’t always split things fifty fifty. You know that, and I know that. So, we’ll figure out how to take a little pressure off of you.”

“Fine,” she gave him a kiss. “You better get to class before you’re late. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

He stole one final kiss and turned in the direction of the building his class was in. He’d made it a little ways away when he heard her call after him. “I love you too!” 

Stopping to glance over his shoulder he found her looking after him. Finally she made a shooing motion and he realized he’d been staring and started walking again, unable to keep the grin off his face.

When Amy got out of class, she was in a good mood as someone fell into step beside her on her way out. It was the guy in her class that she’d caught staring a few times, but she hadn’t thought anything of it. She was a month into her freshmen year and she was determined to focus on only school, work, and her family. After everything that had happened in high school, she wasn’t in a rush to make new friends. 

Ricky was her best friend anyway. The progress they’d made in their relationship was enormous, and often times when she needed to vent, even if it was about Ricky, she spoke to him. He ranted to her about things she’d done as well. It had cleared the air, and even though Madison and Lauren were still her close friends, she no longer shared everything with them. The only person she shared everything with was her husband.

“Hi, I’m Mark. I’m in your sociology class.”

She nodded. “Amy.”

“Nice to meet you, Amy. Hey, do you want to grab a coffee or something?”

She paused at the bottom of the steps. “No thanks. I have to meet my husband in a few minutes.”

“Do you mean boyfriend?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Nope, my husband.”

“Aren’t you only a freshman?”

“A married freshman,” the conversation had barely started and she already wanted it to end.

He grinned. “You’re putting me on.”

Amy shook her head. “I’m not.”

She glanced around, catching sight of Ricky walking towards them. He seemed to sense her annoyance because he picked up his pace. Turning back, it was only a few seconds before he reached them. “Hey,” he gave her a kiss in greeting before turning to Mark. “I’m Ricky,” he held out his hand.

“The boyfriend?” 

“The husband actually. Amy and I really have to run, we only have a little while to eat before our next class.”

“Oh, well, I guess I’ll see you around, Amy. Nice to meet you guys.”

Ricky smirked at his retreating back. “They always think you’re lying about your husband.”

“He’s the guy I told you about in my sociology class.”

“The one who stares? You’d think he would have noticed the ring,” he snorted, “although he looks kind of like Ben, and if he’s anything like Ben, he would’ve just ignored the ring.” She punched him in the arm making him grin. “Hey, it’s true. I still think Ben is waiting for us to break up.”

“Well, considering we’ll never break up, he’ll be waiting a long time, besides he’s all the way in New York.” She studied his face, smiling gently. “ You’re still a little jealous though, aren’t you?”

Ricky frowned. “A little. He was with you all that time when you were pregnant. I missed out on lots of things he was included in.” 

She kissed his cheek. “At the time, you didn’t want to be involved. Maybe next time around.”

He looked at her in surprise. “You planning for another one? I thought we said John is the only kid we need.”

“We did, and I mean it. But…”

“But John is getting older, and you miss how small he was,” he cupped her cheeks and gave her a proper kiss. “Tell you what, in a few years, we’ll talk about it. Deal?”

“Deal. Now let’s go, I’m starving.”

“Me too.”

She took the hand he held out, and they walked to the dining hall. When they sat down they pulled their chairs close, heads ducked together as they talked. Even after they were done eating, they continued to sit there, and Ricky leaned over to kiss her.

As they separated, she blinked a little dazedly. “What was that for?”

“Because you’re my wife and I love you. And there’s at least ten people here just staring at you.”

She made a face. “I highly doubt that.”

“You seem to forget how irresistible you are.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

He leaned in as if to kiss her again, but instead he spoke into her ear. “As much as I would like to prove that to you, both of us need to get to class. Wouldn’t want to be late.”

Trying to will the blush off her face, Amy nodded. They collected their trash and parted ways to go out two separate doors on opposite ends of the hall. Her lips were still tingling from the kiss they’d shared, and she was suddenly very anxious for the day to be over and they could go home.

Ricky was standing outside the church nursery with John in his arms. Amy had gotten held up inside, and since he’d dropped her off, he’d had to wait. John had tired himself out getting a few extra minutes on the playground, which had been just as well, since he was cranky after a long day.

When he spotted Amy walking out, she looked so tired, but when she caught sight of them her face lit up. “Hey, I’m so sorry. A few parents were late, but the woman here had to take her break…”

He grinned. “Don’t worry about it, let’s just get home. Should we pick up something to eat?”

Amy shook her head. “No, we can have breakfast for dinner. I’ll make us some french toast.”

“We can make it together. Pretty sure we have some bacon too.”

She put her hand on the console and he took it without thought, bringing it up to kiss the back. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he wasn’t surprised to see John dozing. “So how was his first day?”

“I think good. He was so happy when we got to the nursery. He’s going to sleep very well tonight.”

“Good.”

“I’ve been looking forward to going home since we left,” she leaned her head back against the headrest as she looked at him. “We have to go to my dad’s to do laundry this weekend. And the apartment needs to be cleaned, and there’s grocery shopping to do.”

“Ok, well, you have a test on Monday, so I will handle laundry and cleaning. We can go grocery shopping together Friday night when I get out of work.”

She hesitated a second before answering. “Alright. But you also have a test Monday, so Sunday I’ll take John to your parents for the afternoon so we can both study.”

“Perfect,” he sighed dramatically, “our lives would be so much easier if we had the same classes, then we could study together.”

“We do study together. Just, different things.”

“I know,” they came to a stop at a red light and he glanced over at her. “Have I told you how proud I am of you?”

“When I graduated you did.”

“Well, remind me to say it more often.”

She smiled tiredly. “Thanks… and I’m proud of you too.”

Just hearing it made him smile as he parked the car and let go of her hand. While he got John, she got all their book bags. When they got to the door, John was already wriggling to get down, renewed by his short rest. As they walked in, Ricky set him down, watching as he ran straight to his toys.

Amy threw all the bags on the couch and took a moment to stretch before heading to the kitchen. By the time he followed, she’d already gotten everything out to start on dinner. She looked over her shoulder to smile at him. “French toast was a good idea. The bread is a bit stale.”

He shrugged. “We don’t usually go through a whole loaf.”

“Then we should make french toast with it every time. It’ll waste less, and save us a bit of money.”

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, propping his chin on her shoulder. “Amy, I know we were really worried about money last summer, but we’re doing fine.”

“Are we?”

“We’ve been able to start saving some money, so, yeah, we’re doing fine.”

She fell quiet, pausing in whisking the eggs and he felt concern spike. “What?” 

“Do you think we’d be together if I hadn’t got pregnant?” She shook her head absently and resumed her work. “Never mind, it’s a stupid question.”

It was something that Ashley had asked him in a snippy voice when she’d returned after he and Amy had gotten engaged. She had told him that Amy wondered about it. His immediate answer had been he didn’t know, but it was question he had mulled over for a long time. 

He had thought back to how he’d felt when they’d talked all night at band camp. How he’d had to force himself not to spill things he hadn’t told anyone else. He remembered how nervous he’d been when they’d had sex. How jealous he was when she had turned him down for Ben, before he had ever known she was pregnant. Even though he hadn’t been ready for any kind of relationship or commitment, he’d been angry to see her with anyone else.

He’d figured out the answer was yes. He would have been interested in Amy whether she’d had his baby or not. Whether they’d raised John together or not. He was sure it would have taken much longer to commit to her, but in any world, at any time, he thought he’d be a little in love with Amy Juergens.

He pressed a light kiss to her shoulder. “Do you want my real answer?”

“Yes,” she said hesitantly.

“I think it would have taken us longer. I would have caused the same friction between us, being an asshole and all. I think we would have been in some sort of contact, but it would have taken me much, much longer to stop being an asshole. I would probably only stop if I’d been afraid I’d never see you again. Like maybe when I graduated.”

“Why did you cause so much friction?”

“Because you scared me. I had never been nervous to sleep with someone. I’m not even sure I was nervous my first time. That’s why our first time wasn’t very good. I was just so scared I was going to mess it up. And of course, I did.” He tucked his face in her neck. “At one point, when you were pregnant, I thought I loved you. I was convinced I had wanted to get you pregnant, and I was determined to mess up the adoption so we’d have to raise the baby together.”

“You really thought you had wanted me to get pregnant?”

He had to release her so she could step away and start the stove. She handed him the bacon and leaned back against the counter as they waited for the pans to heat up. “I think maybe I wasn’t that far off. Maybe unconsciously I wanted something to permanently tie us together. What I felt for you after a few days at band camp terrified me. Because I had _felt_ something. And it wasn’t even that we’d had mindblowing sex, so sex had nothing to do with the feeling.”

“Now we have good sex.”

“Now we have _great_ sex,” he corrected. “I don’t know if it’s true. Whether I meant for it to happen or not. But yes, I would have been interested, and I do think we would have been together even without John. At least I hope so. It’s possible you would get tired of my dickishness before I got my act together.”

“I never really hated you,” Amy glanced over at him, “I don’t think I ever said sorry for telling you I did. The thing I hated most about you was that I didn’t hate you. You always drove me crazy.” She smiled softly. “Do you remember when John was born?”

Ricky scoffed. “Of course I do.”

He began to make the bacon, and she started cooking the french toast. “Do you remember when you walked in and saw him for the first time?”

“I remember seeing you and thinking you were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. And when you opened your eyes, I remember thinking that I loved you and the baby more than anything.”

Amy looked over at him. “Really?”

“I was so terrified when John was born. I felt guilty and angry and ashamed and everything in between. But that one moment, it all went away. I loved you so much for giving birth, I loved John so much for being born. I loved you for letting me try and be a father, for trusting me as best you could to do it.”

“I think I loved you in that moment too. At least a little.”

He smiled, raising a brow. “And now?”

“I love you and John more than anything or anyone in the world.”

“Good,” he smirked and nodded to her pan, “watch it, french toast is going to burn. You know, this is why everyone says you’re a bad cook.”

She flipped it before pointing the spatula at him. “Maybe you should teach me to cook too. Close and personal attention might be just the thing to let me get better.”

“In that case, I’d love to.”

“Am I really so terrible?”

“No, you make a few things really well. And your dad makes it sound like your spaghetti is much worse than it is. I mean it’s not good, but…” He laughed when she punched him in the arm. “Besides, you somehow manage to make mac and cheese better than anyone else.”

“It’s from a box.”

“Which is what makes it so impressive.”

They fell into a comfortable silence as they finished making dinner. After everything was done, Amy set the dishes on the table and he went to grab John, sitting him in his chair. 

Having John start preschool did make it feel like their son was growing up too fast. Honestly, once they graduated and settled into a house, he wouldn’t mind having a second child. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea.

When they’d had the pregnancy scare, it had definitely been scary, but he knew deep down, if she had been pregnant, a part of him would have been happy. He loved the idea of raising more kids with Amy, even though he had thought for a long time John would be the only kid he wanted. It would have been nice for them to raise a baby together from the very start. They had done such a good job with John, he couldn’t even imagine how well they’d do with a baby while working like a real team.

As they ate, John babbled about his day, but the length of it seemed to have taken a toll. He was half asleep after a piece of french toast and two slices of bacon, and covered in syrup. Ricky turned to his wife. “Dishes or bath?”

“Bath.”

He started gathering the dirty dishes as Amy cleaned John’s hands as best she could. Finally she just sighed, picking him up sticky hands and all while John clung to her like he always did. Amy was for sure John’s favorite person of all, a fact that had rubbed him wrong for the first year of his son’s life. Now, he couldn’t blame the kid. 

As he washed the dishes, he could distantly hear John’s squeals and Amy’s laugh and he couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face. Today had been relatively normal, but it was one of those days that made him love his son and wife more than he thought possible. Amy and John had taught Ricky almost everything he knew about loving and being loved. 

While he dried the dishes, he strained to hear Amy and John talking in his room. When he was done, he found Amy laying on the bed with John as she read him a story. He liked the nights where Amy made up the stories herself, but he was just as content to hang out and listen to her read from a book. 

When he’d been a baby, both Ricky and Amy had used textbooks as bedtime stories, to help them study. Occasionally they still got away with it, if they read it in the right tone of voice. Most of the time he wanted real stories though. He did however love Amy’s art textbooks where she pointed out pictures and made up bedtime stories based off of them.

He realized he was staring only after Amy closed the book, John fast asleep against her. “Hey, gorgeous.”

“Hey,” she sighed softly, running a hand over John’s head. “He got syrup in my hair, and now I have to shower.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll join you. Conserving water and all that,” he smirked.

“It’s very important to care about the environment.”

“So showering together is the responsible thing to do.”

She snorted, pressing a kiss to the top of John’s head and wiggling out of his grip as Ricky came to give their son a kiss on the forehead. “He has so much less attitude when he’s asleep,” he gave her a hand up.

“Well, between the two of us, it’s not much of a surprise he’s got an attitude.”

“He gets it from you… and from me. But mostly you.”


	2. Chapter 2

Amy came home from work feeling gross and tired. She was exhausted, having gone from classes to work with no break. She hadn’t even run into Ricky like she normally would have on a Friday when he dropped John at the church nursery. He’d been held up at school and Margaret had done the drop off instead. She had been worried when they’d seen each other, but Amy had brushed off all her concern. 

It had been a very lousy day. Letting go of John’s hand she went off to find Ricky. Surprised to find he wasn’t home, she checked her phone to see if there was any message but there was nothing. Annoyed that he hadn’t told her that he’d be late, she wandered to the kitchen, trying to figure out what to cook. She set up John at the table with his coloring book and crayons to keep him occupied while she tried to find something to make.

They needed groceries and there wasn’t much to work with. Unexpectedly frustration crept up and her eyes filled with tears. John was usually very attune to her moods, so she was relieved when he didn’t notice. Instead of continuing to think about what to make, Amy sat on the floor, her back against the cabinets.

John finally looked up. “Mommy?”

She smiled reassuringly. “Hey, baby, mommy’s just a bit tired.”

“I help,” he slid out of his seat and rushed over, collapsing in her lap.

Wrapping her arms around him, she tried to get a hold of herself. She didn’t even know what was wrong with her. “How was your day?”

John immediately launched into a story. Listening intently, Amy was relieved to find it distracted her a bit. Soon enough, the front door opened and Ricky walked in, bags in hand. When he spotted them on the floor, he stopped, tilting his head. “Why are you sitting on the floor?”

“To test how clean it is,” Amy used her best fake smile, even though she knew he would see right through it.

“Ok, well, obviously we’ll have to talk about that. I have to run and get the rest of the groceries, how about you start putting these away?”

Amy nodded, helping John up from her lap before standing herself. Ricky handed John the bag with napkins so he could help and went out to get the rest as Amy started putting everything away. She hummed as she worked, trying to stave off the gross feeling a while longer.

Once he returned, Ricky set a pizza box and more bags down before helping her out. When everything was away they sat down for dinner. Amy cut up John’s pizza into smaller pieces but instead of grabbing her own slice, she just ate the crust from his.

Suddenly Ricky put his hand on her forehead, face creasing in concern. “I think you might have a fever.”

“I can’t have a fever, I have a test and a paper due tomorrow.”

“I hate to tell you, gorgeous, but that’s not how fevers work. They don’t take your schedule into account.”

“I’m not sick, I’m fine.”

“Oh yeah? Then let me take your temperature.” She crossed her arms over her chest and stuck her lip out in a pout but he just shook his head. “As cute as you are when you pout, we need to take your temperature.”

She didn’t have a chance to respond before he left to find the thermometer. Turning to John, she smiled. “Your daddy is a very good husband. But he worries too much.”

“I worry just enough,” Ricky sounded amused from behind her. “Open up.”

Amy opened her mouth obediently and he put the thermometer under her tongue. When it beeped he took it and looked at it. “I knew it, you have a fever.”

“Ugh… I can’t. There’s too much to do. And I can’t get you or John sick,” she sighed, “maybe I should go stay with my dad and Kathleen until the fever goes away.”

“I can take care of you. And, for now, I’ll get you some medicine and open the couch so you can go to sleep. I can give John his bath and get him to bed when he finishes his pizza. We’ll have to keep him out of our bed until you get better though.”

She frowned. “Maybe you should sleep in the nursery with him. I don’t want you to get sick.”

“I never get sick, remember? You hungry?”

“No, not really,” she sighed. “What about my test, and my paper?”

“I’ll bring the professor your paper, and you can talk to the other about the test. I’m sure they’ll understand. People get sick all the time, and we haven't missed any classes so far this semester. Which is impressive considering we’re juggling a baby, jobs, and school.”

Her lips tipped up at the corners. “You’re always so good at looking at the bright side.”

He pressed a kiss to her temple. “I learned from the best.”

The next day, Ricky was walking through campus. Amy had emailed all her professors in advance and two of them had agreed to email her the work. The one who had been giving a test agreed to let her take it once she was feeling better, and he was on his way now to drop off Amy’s paper and go to his own class.

“Ricky!”

For a moment Ricky almost hoped it was Amy, but he knew she was home in bed. Thinking that only made him want to go home and check on her. He finally turned around, only slightly surprised to see Adrian making her way through the crowd. Taking a look at his watch he realized he had a few minutes to spare, so he moved out of the way and stopped.

“Hey,” she grinned when she approached. “Where’s Amy?”

“Home sick. She has the flu or something.”

“And she’s staying at your apartment? Won’t you and John catch it from her?”

“I never get sick, and John rarely gets sick,” his eyebrows drew down. “And it’s our apartment, we’re married.”

She waved her hand to brush off his words. “Right, right, so the two of you say. How long have you guys been married anyhow?”

“Nearly a year now. We got married last October. You were at the party a few days later,” he looked around. “Anyways, I’ve gotta go. Jack’s father is expecting me.”

“Jack’s father?”

“He’s Amy’s philosophy professor. He told her I could pick up a paper of hers he graded. He thought it might make her happy to see. Bye.”

Before she could say anything more he continued on, pulling his phone out of his pocket and hitting speed dial one. He listened as it rang, hoping Amy would pick up, but it went to voicemail. “Hey, gorgeous. I hope you’re feeling a little better. Remember to eat something and I’’ll come check on you before work. Love you.”

When Ricky got back to the butcher shop, he rushed up to the apartment. He had just dropped John at daycare and only had twenty minutes before he needed to be at work. He hadn’t heard from Amy all day and he was getting worried. As soon as the door to the apartment swung open, he spotted the lump on the bed immediately. 

Dumping his backpack by the door, he took in the way Amy was burrowed in the blankets, noticing that the medicine he’d left for her was gone. “Amy?” He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. Her face was the only part peeking out, and he brushed her hair off her forehead, concerned with how hot she was. “Hey, Amy, you awake?”

It took her quite a while to open her eyes, scrunching her face up as she squinted at him. “Ricky? What’s wrong?”

“You’re burning up, we need to get to the doctors.”

“Why? ‘M fine.”

“No, you are not fine. I’m going to call Bunny to tell her I can’t come in, then call your doctor, and then call my mom. She and my dad can take John for the night.”

Her eyes were hazy but she nodded, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead, the heat making him nervous. He got up and grabbed the thermometer as he was dialing Bunny. 

“Hello?” Her voice was as gruff as always.

“Hey, Bunny, it’s Ricky. Amy’s sick and…”

“Say no more. We’ll be fine down here. Just take care of your wife.” 

She hung up before he could say anything more. By the time he got back to the bed, Amy’s eyes were already closed. “I need to take your temperature, babe.”

She groaned but opened her mouth. He nearly held his breath as he waited for it to beep, feeling his heart beat faster in his chest when he saw how high it was once he took it out. He ran his hand through her hair again and sighed softly before walking to the kitchen to find the doctor’s phone number.

He waited impatiently as it rang, relieved when someone finally picked up. “Hi, this is Ricky, my wife is Amy Underwood. She has a hundred and three degree fever, and I was wondering if there’s any way you could see her now.”

“Well, we don’t have anything available until tomorrow morning. With that high a fever, I’d suggest you bring her to the emergency room.”

“Oh… oh. Ok, that’s what I’ll do. Thank you…”

“Sure, call us in the morning to schedule a follow up.”

He hung up, immediately dialing his mother feeling impatient as he once again waited. “Ricky?”

“Mom, hi. I need a favor. Can you pick up John from the nursery and keep him for the night? Amy is really sick, and her doctor’s office told me I should bring her to the ER. I’m going right now.”

“Amy is sick? Of course we’ll pick up John and keep him here! If the doctor says you need to get her to the hospital, get her to the hospital. John will be fine here.”

“Ok, good, gotta run.”

“Call us later to tell us what’s happening.”

Ricky hung up without answering, going back to where Amy was lying. He sat on the edge of the bed again, shaking her gently. “Amy, we’ve got to get you to the hospital.”

She moaned pitifully, and the sound went straight to his heart. “Come on, let’s get going,” he wrapped an arm behind her shoulders, helping her sit up.

After he’d taken the blankets off of her she seemed to be a little more aware, moving to get up, but she was already shivering again. Grabbing his sweatshirt off the back of the chair, he pulled it over her head unceremoniously, happy when it made her smile.

Putting her arms through the sleeves, she reached up to put her hair up. “I need shoes.”

“Got it,” he grabbed the first pair he saw by the door, watching her slip her feet into them.

He gave her a hand up and wrapped an arm around her waist, glad she leaned against him. On their way by the chair he grabbed her purse and helped her out the door, locking it behind them. 

The drive to the hospital was quiet, and Amy seemed to be dozing. When they got into the ER, Ricky was surprised to see the woman who had been there when he and Amy had brought John years before. “Uh… my wife has a high fever. Her doctor’s office told me I should bring her.”

She raised an eyebrow. “She really your wife this time, or are you still just saying that?”

Ricky was a little shocked she even remembered them, glancing over his shoulder to see Amy curled in a chair, head propped on her hand. “You remember us?” He shook his head. “Whatever, she’s really my wife and her temperature is 103. And, we’re preregistered this time.”

“Good. because this time it’s really an emergency. We’ll take you in just as soon as we can,” her voice was reassuring.

Smiling gratefully, he went to sit with Amy, immediately wrapping an arm around her. “How you feeling?”

“Like I was hit by a truck,” she sighed, “this is just the flu right?”

“Probably. But your temperature is high, and I’m guessing you haven’t eaten since I left this morning, which means you haven’t eaten since yesterday. How much did you have to drink?”

“Just a few sips of water to take the medicine you left me. God, I feel horrible.”

He kissed her temple. “Do you want some distraction?”

“Yes, please,” she rested her head on his shoulder.

“I saw Adrian today.”

It was a testament of how far their relationship had come when she didn’t react other than to curl closer to him. “Oh? How is Adrian?”

“I don’t really know, I was on my way to see Jack’s dad and get your paper. He was excited to have me give it to you. And excited to tell me how well you did.”

She hummed sleepily. “And how did I do?”

“A ninety seven. He wants you to see the notes he made, which is why he asked me to bring it home to you.”

“I’ll look at it when we get home,” she yawned. “John’s okay?”

“I dropped him off at daycare and he was fine. My parents will pick him up and keep him there for the night.” He paused a moment, tilting his head. “Should we call your parents?”

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s just a fever, everything is fine. Plus, Kathleen and my dad are having date night,” she sighed softly. “I’m really glad those two got back together. They seem so happy now. I don’t even mind Kathleen anymore, and it’s nice to have an excuse to see Grace so often.”

“You two have gotten pretty close since the wedding.”

“Well, she and Adrian aren’t really friends anymore, Madison, Lauren, and I aren’t the closest anymore, and Grace and I have always kind of been friends. Now we’re stepsisters.”

They fell quiet and Amy had nodded off again when a nurse came out and called them in. After answering some questions and having her temperature taken they were led into an examination room. A doctor came in very briefly, and only a few minutes later, Amy had been hooked up to an IV.

Ricky sat by the bed and held her hand, eyes trained on her face. The last time he had seen her lying in a hospital bed, she had just given birth to their son. Frustration welled up out of nowhere, and like he so often did, he regretted missing so much of Amy’s pregnancy. The only thing that generally soothed that regret was the fact that they were sharing their lives now.

Bringing her hand up, he kissed the back. When he looked back at Amy, her eyes were open and she was smiling softly. “You’re worried,” she cupped his cheek.

“A little. I hate seeing you like this. I’ve never seen you this sick.”

“Too busy to be sick the last few years. Too busy to be sick right now.”

“Again, fevers don’t work like that. You’ve been pushing yourself too hard, something was going to give.”

“Apparently my immune system,” she grinned.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Ricky lingered by Amy’s bed as she gave him an exasperated look. “Ricky, I’m fine. I’m feeling better.”

“But your fever is still high and they’re giving you medicine to keep it down. I don’t want to leave you.”

“You need to go see John before he goes to daycare, and then you have a test. I’ll be fine, promise. If they tell me I can go home, I’m sure I could call someone to get a ride.”

“The doctor said they want to keep you here at least another day.” He came to stand beside the bed, pressing a lingering kiss to her forehead, frowning when it was still so warm. 

“And I’m sure they’ll take almost as good care of me as you do. Ricky, go. You’re going to be exhausted since you refused to go home to sleep and you have so much to do today.”

“I wanted to stay with you,” he sighed heavily. “I really wish I could give you a kiss.”

“So do I, but I’ll settle for a mint.”

Ricky rolled his eyes, grabbing her purse from the chair and digging around for the mints and handing them to her. He set the bag on the bed beside her, knowing she always had some sort of book in there to keep her busy. “Call me, if anything changes. Promise me.”

“I promise,” she smiled. “Now go, you’re going to be late.”

“Fine, I’ll go. I’ll come by after work to see you. John’s going to hate not seeing you two nights in a row.”

“I’ll talk to him on the phone before bed.”

He nodded and kissed her forehead again, hesitating another few seconds before forcing himself to leave. After he stopped at their apartment to get changed and cleaned up, he headed straight for his parents house.

His mom and dad were in the kitchen when he came in through the back door, with John sitting with them. As soon as he saw his father, John was up and running towards him, squealing when he was picked up. “Daddy!”

“Hey, buddy. How was your sleepover with grandma and grandpa?”

“Good!” His bright smile dimmed just a bit as he peered over Ricky’s shoulder. “I want mommy.”

“I know you do, bud. But mommy got sick, and she needs to get better before you can visit. We can talk to her on the phone tonight before bed.”

John pressed his face into Ricky’s shoulder. “I want mommy,” he repeated sadly.

“I know, daddy wants mommy too,” he sighed, rubbing John’s back.

His father spoke up. “How is Amy?” 

“They gave her medicine all night to get the fever down, but it’s still pretty high. She at least feels a little better. The doctor said it was probably just the flu, but they wanted to keep an eye on her.”

“You’re worried about her,” his mom’s voice was gentle.

“Terrified actually. I’ve never seen her get so sick.”

“You said she’s been stressed, stress weakens the immune system…”

“And ends with Amy in the hospital with a 103 temperature. I know she’ll be fine, logically, I know that.”

“But she’s your partner and your wife, and you don’t trust anyone to take care of her but yourself,” Margaret smiled. “We understand.”

“Would it make you feel better if I go to check on her?”

Ricky smiled at his dad gratefully. “Yes, please. I have to get John to daycare and then get to school and work, but I’d really appreciate it if you stopped in to see her. She didn’t want me to, but I should probably text her parents to let them know what’s going on. She didn’t want them to worry.”

“They’ll worry more if they hear about it somewhere else. Now, you get going, and be sure to call us if you need us.”

“Thanks for taking care of John last night, I really appreciate it.” He took John’s bag from the chair and walked out to his car. Getting John into his seat, he knew that his son was a little sad that Amy hadn’t been there to pick him up. Putting on John’s favorite CD, he started the car and started driving. 

After dropping John off, he immediately set off for school. He was lucky that his test wouldn’t be until the afternoon, so after his first class he’d have time to study for it. If he failed because he’d been up all night at the hospital, Amy would be a little annoyed with him. His first class seemed torturously slow, and each time he looked at the clock, only a few minutes had passed.

As soon as class was out, he took the time to text anyone who would need to know Amy was in the hospital. For good measure he also texted Grace and Kathleen. His studying was interspersed with replies and when it got to be time, he packed up all his things and headed off to class, stopping just outside the building to make a call to Amy.

Amy woke up from her nap, reaching blindly over for her phone as it vibrated. Not even bothering to open her eyes, she accepted the call. “Hello?” 

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

She cleared her throat, hearing the worry in Ricky’s voice. “I’m fine. They got their test results back, apparently I have strep and the flu. It’s why the fever wouldn’t go down.”

“Strep? Haven’t you had strep like a bunch of times?”

“Yes. Which is why they think I might need my tonsils out. How was your test?”

“I haven’t taken it yet. I’m on my way in there. In fact, I’m nearly late.”

“Better you than me,” she joked.

He grinned. “For now,” he blew out a breath. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck.”

“Get some rest, I’ll be there in a few hours.”

“How many?”

She suddenly sounded small and tired and it made his chest ache. “Before you even know it. I have to go. Love you.”

“Love you too,” she yawned, taking the phone away from her ear and ending the call.

She’d only been dozing for a few minutes when her phone went off again. “Hello?”

“Amy! Oh my god, are you okay? How are you? Is there anything I can do?”

“Grace?”

“Yeah, Ricky texted to let me know you’te in the hospital. I called my mom but she didn’t know much more then that, so now I’m calling you. Is everything ok?”

“Well, I’m sick, but really, everything is just fine. The doctor said I should be fine to go home as soon as the fever breaks for more than a few hours.”

“Are you up for a visitor? I baked cookies.”

“I’m not very hungry, but you’re welcome to come. Ricky won’t be able to come by until tonight.”

“I’ll be by in an hour. I just have to finish up here. My mom might come with me…” Her voice trailed off. “As long as that’s ok.”

“You know your mom and I are fine. If she wants to come she should. I know my dad will be busy with work all day, he’s probably sending her to check on me.”

“He is. Not that she wouldn’t have come to visit you on her own. She’s as worried as everyone else. See you soon.” 

Grace hung up, leaving Amy staring at the phone in confusion. “Everyone else?” She muttered under her breath.

Before she had the chance to text Ricky and ask him who exactly he’d told, there was a knock. When she looked up, her in-laws were standing there smiling. “Amy, it is so good to see you,” Margaret smiled warmly.

Shakur nodded. “How are you feeling?”

“Anxious to get home. I miss John.”

“I’m sure you do, but you need to concentrate on getting better. The doctor told me you have strep and the flu?”

“Apparently. I think once I’m better I’ll need to have my tonsils out over the school break. I feel terrible I’m missing work again. I can’t even come in until I’ve gone twenty four hours without a fever, so I had to call out for at least the next few days,” she sighed heavily, “it’s going to make money a little tight this month.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, honey. You just work on getting better. John misses you.”

“I hate not seeing him and making Ricky’s life so much harder.” 

“Things happen. And getting sick is one of those things. Everything will be just fine.”

Amy smiled tiredly. “I know. But it’s nice to hear,” she tried to hide a yawn.

Shakur smiled. “We’ll leave to let you get some rest. Ricky said he would be by as soon as he can.”

“I know, and Grace is coming in an hour. Thank you for coming.”

“Our pleasure. We’ll see you soon, feel better, Amy.”

“Thank you, guys, it was good to see you.” They’d barely had time to wave and say their goodbyes before Amy nodded off again.

When Ricky got back to the hospital, Amy was fast asleep. Visiting hours were ending soon, and he knew Amy would insist he spend the night at home with John. Grace had agreed to pick John up from the nursery, and he would be picking him up from there on his way home. Sitting down beside the bed, he watched the steady rise and fall of her chest thoughts quickly wandering.

What had scared Ricky the most about Amy when he’d met her at band camp was how she made him feel. It had been something he had continued to hate all through her pregnancy and reached its peak just before John was born.

How he had felt about her when he’d seen her exhausted and holding their son just after he had been born… It had threatened to be completely overwhelming. Having a baby to distract from what he’d felt that day in the hospital had been a relief.

Everything he had ever felt for her was just too big. His anger when she told him she hated him. Jealousy when he saw her with Ben. Sadness when she admitted she didn't want John to love him. 

His adoration when she was exhausted and fell asleep while he took care of John. How protective he was when she was sad or scared or overwhelmed. Absolute love when he saw her hold their son. Love when she trusted him more then anyone ever had. Love when she'd admitted that he deserved weekends with John. Love when he put a wedding ring on her finger. 

How he felt about her was something he had largely ignored for a long time. But time after time little bits crept out. When he found himself staring at her for a moment too long, or the way his heart beat too fast when she smiled at him a certain way. The relief he'd felt when even though she wouldn't talk to anyone else, she'd talk to he and John. How much he missed her when she'd left for New York. How much it hurt knowing she was hurting. The anger when Ben continued to bother her after he broke her heart. 

Nothing he ever felt for her was halfway and over time it had become one of his favorite things about her. Right now, not so much.

When she stirred, he stood up, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. She blinked her eyes open, smiling as soon as she saw him. “Hey.”

He laced their fingers together. “Hey. How you feeling?”

“A little better,” her voice was hoarse and she struggled to sit up, making a face when he helped her. Without needing to be asked, he helped her settle back against the pillows and handed her the glass of water beside the bed.

“Thanks,” she took a few sips before handing it back to him. “How was your test? Where’s John?”

“Grace picked him up from daycare so I’ll be picking him up on the way home. I wanted to stay, but I knew you wouldn’t let me. And my test went well. I knew if I failed you’d be mad for staying here with you last night.”

“You know me so well.”

He brought her hand up to kiss the back “You’re my best friend, of course I know you.”

Amy stuck her lip out in a pout. “I wish I could come home.”

“John misses you.” He grinned when she poked him in the side. “And I wish you could come home too.”

She tilted her head. “I had to call out of work for another few days. Will we be ok?”

“Don’t worry about anything. You have paid sick days saved up, and the ladies at the nursery just really want you to get better. We’ll be fine,” he leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

“You should go get John. I’ll be fine.”

“Ok, but we’re really going to have to talk about you having your tonsils out.”

“We will when I get home. My fever has gone down so it should be soon. At the very least I should be able to leave and stay at my dad’s house.”

“When you leave, you’re coming home. I’m a mess without you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Liar.”

“Ok, fine, I’m not. But I hate sleeping without you.”

“You’re a total sap.”

“Give me a break, I’m exhausted.” He smiled softly. “If I stay here any longer I’m going to do something stupid like kiss you.”

“Then go, give John a kiss for me. Call me after dinner so I can talk to him.”

“I will, promise,” he kissed her temple. 

Ricky arrived at George and Kathleen’s house a little after six, feeling exhausted after such a long day. He had grown so accustomed to having Amy as his partner, it really was hard without her. He took a deep breath to steel himself before getting out of the car and heading to the backdoor. He saw Kathleen and George in the kitchen through the window before he walked in.

“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you,” George glared at him.

“I’m sorry, I was at the hospital with Amy. She’s feeling better.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t call last night to tell us she was sick.”

Kathleen interrupted. “George, Ricky and Amy are married. I’m not sure they have to always call us when something happens.”

“Besides, I let you know today. Amy didn’t even want me to tell anyone.”

George scowled. “You told me too late for me to get out of my meetings, I couldn’t even go see her.”

“Grace and I went to see her, she was tired but said she was feeling ok. She did mention she might need her tonsils out.”

“Really, she didn’t want too many visitors. She didn’t even want anyone to know she was in the hospital.”

Grace chose that moment to appear, leading John by the hand. As soon as he saw his father John ran over, clinging to his legs. “Ricky, how’s Amy?”

“She’s okay. Annoyed she has to stay another night. She’ll start causing trouble if they keep her much longer.”

“She never was a good patient,” George shook his head.

“She was grumpy when John was born, and I wasn’t even there for the worst of it.”

George raised an eyebrow. “And yet you regret missing it.”

“Of course I regret missing it,” Ricky picked John up. “We should get going. John is totally off his schedule, and his teacher said he was cranky at school today.”

“I want mommy,” John looked between all of them as if Amy would just appear.

He pressed a kiss to his head. “I know, buddy. We’ll call mommy when we get home.”

“Why don’t you and John stay for dinner? I made plenty.”

Grace brightened. “Oh, and I made cookies earlier!”

“Thank you, but I can’t. I haven’t gotten a chance to spend time with John since two days ago.”

“At least take some food with you, I insist. You’ve had a busy few days.”

He smiled in relief. “I would really appreciate it, thanks, Kathleen.”

“Let me run and grab John’s things for you,” Grace smiled. “I’ll check on Robbie while I’m there.”

“Thanks,” George smiled for the first time since Ricky had come through the door. “Did you tell Anne and Ashley that Amy is sick?”

“I did. Anne said she’ll call when she gets a chance.”

“They’re in France for a couple days. Ashley had a few days off school.”

“Amy will be excited to see the pictures. Did you know she and Ashley have actually been talking?”

“Ashley may have mentioned it,” George snorted. “It’s about time. Those two have been at each other’s throats since a month after John was born.”

“I think distance has made it easier to call a truce.”

Grace reappeared in the doorway, carrying John’s bag. Kathleen had already packed up some food and George volunteered to help carry it out. After wishing Grace and Kathleen a good night, Ricky walked outside behind George and made their way to his car. George put the food on the floor of the backseat while Ricky strapped John in.

Shutting the door, Ricky came around to where George stood. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Amy.”

He shrugged. “She didn’t want you to, you were respecting your wife’s wishes. Amy  _ is _ still my daughter though.”

“She didn’t want to worry you. She knew you and Kathleen were having date night. You know how she is, didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Yeah, I do know how she is,” he shook his head, looking fond. “Call us if you need anymore help with John. I’m going to go visit Amy in the morning.”

“She’ll be happy to see you, she’s going to be even more restless in the morning. But anyways, I should get going, have a good night.”

George nodded. “You too. Don’t forget to get Amy on the phone for John. He’s going to be grouchy enough until he sees her again.”

Ricky smiled wryly. “I’ll be grouchy enough for the both of us until she’s home.”

“You hide it better than he does,” George turned back towards the house, “drive safe!”

Shaking his head, Ricky climbed into the car. He glanced into the back seat where John was clutching his bear. It was the one he and Amy had bought him for his second birthday, and it was still his favorite. There was almost certainly going to be a temper tantrum when they got home and John realized Amy wasn’t there to give him his bath or read him his story.

When they got back to the apartment, Ricky put all the bags over his shoulder and got John out of his carseat. They walked up the stairs hand in hand, and John waited patiently as he unlocked the door. As soon as the door had been opened he ran in and sat in the middle of the floor with his toys.

Ricky dropped his school backpack on the floor and brought the food to the table, setting out paper plates and cups, too tired to even fathom doing dishes. Kathleen had packed up some chicken and mashed potatoes along with some broccoli. He poured some juice and put food on the plates before lifting John into his seat.

“Alright, buddy, let’s eat. I’m starving.” He had already cut the chicken into small pieces so he handed John his fork.

“Where’s mommy?”

“Mommy got sick remember? She’s with some doctors to help her get better. After dinner we’ll call so we can talk to her.”

John’s face lit up and he began to eat immediately. Usually he had to be prompted to eat his vegetables, but he happily ate them without a word. When they were done eating, Ricky gave John a cookie, cleaned up the kitchen, and put away the leftovers. 

Carrying John to the bathroom, he went through his bedtime routine. By the time John was done with his bath and brushing his teeth, he was sleepy but still excited to speak to his mom. 

John immediately burrowed into his side as they sat on the couch and Ricky pulled out his phone hitting speed dial one. It was several rings before Amy finally picked up. “Hey.”

“Hey, gorgeous. I have someone here who wants to talk to you.” He put it on speaker phone. “John, say hi to mommy.”

“Mommy!” John squealed excitedly.

“Hey, baby. How are you? How was your day?”

“Good! I colored. Daddy gave me cookies!”

“Oh, did he? How many cookies?”

Ricky smiled. “He ate all his dinner, so he got two cookies. They were pretty small.”

“What was for dinner?”

“Kathleen gave me food to take home. We had chicken, and mashed potatoes, and broccoli.”

“I like the dinner,” John nodded absently, hugging his bear to his chest. “Mommy, miss you.”

“Aw, I miss you too. I’ll be home soon.”

“Now, please,” he tapped the phone’s screen as if he could summon her.

“I know, I wish I could come home now, but I can’t.”

John’s eyes welled with tears. “But… I want mommy.”

“John, don’t cry. I’ll see you soon, I promise. You be good for daddy, ok?”

The tears had started slipping down his cheeks, and John hid his face in Ricky’s chest, quickly dissolving into a full on meltdown. Wrapping an arm around him, Ricky turned speaker phone off and held it up to his ear. “I’m going to get him to sleep. I’ll call you once he’s down.”

“My battery is dying, I’m not sure it will last. Could you bring the charger tomorrow?”

“Sure,” he held the phone by John’s ear. “Say good night to mommy.”

“Night,” John hiccuped little sobs.

Ricky brought the phone back up. “Good night, I love you.”

“Get him in bed. Hopefully my phone still works when you can call back,” there was a long pause where neither of them said anything. “Oh! And I love you too.”

Smiling, Ricky forced himself to hang up, gathering John into his arms and carrying him off to bed. It took quite a while to get him to sleep, and it was a relief when he was finally settled. Pulling the covers up to John’s chin, he pressed a kiss to his forehead before walking out of the room, shutting the door most of the way behind him.

Even though he was exhausted he stripped the bed and gathered all the blankets that had been left on the bed when he’d brought Amy to the hospital. Sunday was his day off and he’d have to bring John to Kathleen and George’s house to do laundry. By the time he’d showered and settled in an hour had passed.

As he sat listening to the dial tone, he felt disappointment when it went to voicemail. “Hey, I was just calling to say good night, but I guess your phone died. I know you won’t get this until tomorrow, but I love you and miss you, and I need you to get better soon. We want you to come home soon. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He hung up, sighing heavily. He always seemed to most realize how much he needed Amy when she was gone. It had been the same thing when she’d been in New York and he’d missed her terribly. She hadn’t even been gone for two days and he missed her terribly all over again.


	4. ****

On Amy’s first night back home, John was so excited that after dinner and a bath, he was half asleep. When Ricky came back from doing dishes, he stopped in the doorway, staring at the bed where Amy sat even though John was already asleep. Her hair was damp from her shower she wore his sweatshirt and a pair of sweats. It took her a moment to realize he was standing there, and when she looked up she smiled.

“I missed him so much.”

“He missed you too. This is the easiest he’s gone down in three days.”

Pressing a kiss to his forehead Amy stood, tucking the blanket up under his chin. They left the room together, closing the door most of the way behind them. Before she could get too far, he grabbed her by the hand, tugging her closer.

She grinned up at them, putting her arms around his neck. “I missed you too.”

“I didn’t say anything!” She tilted her head back, raising an eyebrow and giving in, he smiled, leaning down to kiss her. “I missed you.”

“It’s annoying that I can’t go back to work until Monday,” she sighed, “they said I’m not even sick anymore.”

“But you are recovering from days with a fever. You still need rest, and it will give you time to look over the schoolwork you missed. Maybe you can keep John with you. He’s going to be nearly impossible to get to school tomorrow now that you’re home.”

“That sounds like a good idea. We could all sleep in if I let him play hooky.”

“Whatever you want, I’ll do. I’m just really happy you’re home.”

Amy hugged him tightly. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“Just don’t let it happen again. Next time you’re feeling run down, take a break before you end up in the hospital.” He leaned back to see her face. “Deal?”

“Deal,” she hid a yawn with the back of her hand. 

He pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’ll get the bed ready. I still have to get my homework done, so I’ll study in the kitchen.”

She shook her head. “No, I can sleep with the light on. You can just study in bed.”

He nodded and gave her a light kiss before turning to undo the sofa bed. It was a relief to be home. She’d missed Ricky and John since she’d left for the hospital, and it was good to be feeling better and back at home. She was a little annoyed that she couldn’t go back to work the next day, but it would be kind of nice to have a few days off where she could actually spend time with her husband and son. 

They would need to talk about her getting her tonsils out over winter break, but Ricky had been so worried about her she didn’t want to add to the stress. Instead she was hoping they could focus on their one year anniversary that was coming up in a week. Then Halloween was five days after that. She was excited for both.

“We should take John to get his costume on Sunday.”

He glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “We have laundry to do at your dad’s house.”

“Laundry won’t take all day. Besides, it will be fun. You didn’t get to go with us to pick last year.”

“That was the weekend I worked extra hours so I could have days off after we got married.”

He threw the pillows back on the bed and spread the blankets out. For a few minutes he didn’t say anything more until he’d turned back around to her. “Okay, let’s do it. It'll be fun. Our wedding anniversary and your favorite holiday all in the same week.”

“It’s John’s favorite holiday too.”

Ricky tilted his head, smiling softly. It was the kind of smile that he only ever directed at her or John, and it never failed to give her butterflies. Ducking her head as she felt a blush on her face, she peeked at him through her eyelashes. “What?”

“You’re wearing my sweatshirt,” he nodded to the garment in question.

“I always wear your clothes,” she looked at him in confusion.

“Usually, but they haven’t smelled like you the last few days. I prefer it when they do.”

She put her hands on her hips. “You always complain when they do!”

“Only because it makes you wear more of my clothes out of spite. By the end of the week, half my shirts and sweatshirts have your perfume on them. I’ve just missed it.

“I’ve only been gone three days.”

He shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck almost shyly. Finally he shook his head. “You ready for bed?”

“I don’t even know why I’m so tired. I’ve been sleeping for three days.” She tilted her head. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go stay at my dad’s? Just in case I am still contagious.”

Ricky snorted. “I’ve kissed you about twenty times since I picked you up, it would basically be pointless now.” He smiled charmingly. “Besides, I always sleep better with you here.”

Walking up the stairs to the apartment, Ricky sighed. For their one year anniversary, he and Amy had been planning to go out of town for a few days with John. Since she’d been sick the week before, the plan had no longer been plausible, and they’d agreed to hold off until the long weekend after Thanksgiving.

When he opened the door, he expected Amy to be on the couch, or in the kitchen, but she wasn’t in either place. Walking to John’s room, he stopped short in the doorway. Amy was standing with a fussy John on her hip, face fully made up, and wearing his sweatshirt once again. His eyes swept over her from head to toe and back again. She had no shoes, toenails painted pink, and sleep shorts that barely peeked out from under the sweatshirt.

She hadn’t really noticed him, too focused on calming John down, and John spotted him first. “Daddy!” 

The smile Amy shot him made his heart beat double time, and he watched as she shifted John’s weight to her other hip. He could remember their first date where she’d had her makeup done just like it was now, and the dress she’d worn. She had looked unbelievably beautiful that night, but she was even more beautiful right this second. Holding their son, halfway made up and totally at ease.

“You still don’t want another kid, right?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

She smiled in amusement. “You really like it when I do my makeup like this, don’t you?”

“Well, yes, but you, that makeup, my sweatshirt, holding our son…” He swallowed hard. “No, really, you sure you don’t want another one?”

Amy laughed. “We said we’d talk about it later on.”

“It’s been a few weeks, this is later.” He grasped her elbow, leaning to give her a kiss over John’s shoulder. “Happy anniversary by the way.”

“Happy anniversary. Sorry we couldn’t go out of town like we wanted.”

“Eh, we’ll have plenty of years to go on anniversary trips. I’m more than happy to celebrate here with you.”

“Is it because you’re hoping to convince me to have another baby?”

“Well, it wasn’t but with you looking like that…” His voice trailed off and he gave her another kiss.

John had quieted, head on Amy’s shoulder, and he ran a hand over his son’s head. The way Amy was looking at him made him feel giddy. “Would we even have enough money for another baby?”

“I’d have to sit down and go through our budget again. Maybe.”

“And how would we deal with another baby?”

“Same way we did with John, daycare, working.”

“I would have to work more hours at the daycare to pay for childcare for two babies. We’d have another mouth to feed, you know how expensive babies are.”

“I do, I know. But…”

“But you want another,” her eyes sparkled when she looked at him, “I do too, but I’m not sure now is the right time.”

“I don’t know. It wasn’t the right time for John either, but we’ve done a hell of a job with him.”

“Don’t say h-e-l-l, John is repeating the worst possible words these days,” she scolded lightly.

“Sorry…” He studied her face. “Could we at least have a serious discussion about this?”

“You want to spend our first anniversary talking about another baby?”

“Well, and getting some practice in for when the time _is_ right,” he winked.

She rolled her eyes, handing John over to him so he could be laid on the bed. It was a little bit late for a nap, and too early for bed, but a little sleep would do him good before dinner. They pulled the blanket over him before walking out, leaving the door open.

“He had a long day it seems. And we already told him we’d bring him out for ice cream, so I think he got a little overexcited.”

“Who could blame him? Today is definitely a day for excitement,” he grinned.

“Do you really want to talk about this now?”

“Yeah, I do. I think it would be nice to think about, even if we wait.”

“Well, then let’s order dinner and start talking. Chinese?”

He watched her walk towards the kitchen, fondness welling up in his chest. “Perfect. And I’ll pull out our books.”

She stopped, turning to face him again. “You’re really, truly, serious about this, aren’t you?”

“I am really, truly, serious. But we’ll wait, if that’s what’s best for you, or for us. If not now, eventually, right?”

“Right,” she smiled crookedly before grabbing the phone.

He got everything they would need to have a real discussion about money. It was an exciting thought, another baby. If they decided to wait, he would have been totally ok with that. He had spent so long believing he would never want more kids, waiting longer didn’t seem like a big deal at all. But he couldn’t deny that the thought of sooner rather than later appealed to him.

By the time she sat at the table with him, he had all the books spread out and was already starting to look at the numbers. She was quiet while he looked everything over, and at some point she stood and grabbed them both some iced tea. When she finally sat down again and handed him his drink, he was ready to talk.

“Well?” She tilted her head.

“Well, with what Mimsy left you when she passed away, and the money we’ve been saving, we’d have enough. With everything from when John and Robbie were babies that’s stored in your father’s house, we’d have most everything we need in terms of toys, crib, bassinet. Plus there are boxes of newborn clothes that we couldn’t stand to get rid of.”

“So we have the resources then.”

“We have the resources. But, having another baby might disrupt your plans for school. It might take us longer to graduate. Unless we started trying and by some miracle you got pregnant in the next month, you might miss a semester. You were out for nearly two months when John was born.”

“We would be sleep deprived, which would make school harder, even once I did go back.”

“Without money being much of an issue, neither of us would have to work too many extra hours. We could pay the church for daycare.”

“What about John?”

“What about him?”

“What if he wouldn’t want a baby brother or sister? He’s used to having all the attention. And he’s getting older, he won’t stay in the church nursery forever.”

He smiled. “We’d have time to figure it out. The nursery takes kids until they’re seven. Then over that, they have after school programs. They’re less expensive than the nursery. If you kept working there to pay for the baby’s care, we could pay for the programs.”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yes, but the money we’ve saved would be used up pretty quickly. We wouldn’t be able to replace it faster than we use it.”

“In three years, I’ll have already graduated and gotten a full time job. We would manage in the meantime.”

“Hmm…” There was a knock at the door and she stood. After paying the delivery man, she turned around to carry the food in, spotting John wandering from his room, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands.

Ricky had already gathered all the books and stacked them out of the way before he picked up John, jostling him slightly. “Hey, buddy, how was your nap?”

“Good,” John nodded distractedly, eyes trained on his mother. “Mommy.”

She gave him a kiss on the cheek on her way by, using her thumb to wipe away the spot of lip gloss that had been left. Once she reached the kitchen she began to unpack the food on the table. Ever since New York, Chinese food had been their favorite date night food, and it was fitting to have it on their anniversary.

Ricky had grabbed plates and cups, pouring John some juice and water for he and Amy. When they all sat down together, he smiled at his wife. She was very obviously distracted, but she listened in interest as John chatted about his day, putting chicken fingers and rice on his plate. 

There was no possible way to fully describe how much he loved the two people in front of him. He couldn’t imagine having another person to love so much, but he was excited for the day he might.


	5. ****

Amy was still in the kitchen doing dishes when Ricky emerged after giving John his bath and putting him to bed. Since their anniversary a few nights before, she had been thinking about his proposal to have another child. While a big part of her wanted to say yes, the more logical part of her wasn’t sure.

She wouldn’t have cared if she graduated a semester or two late. And she wanted to experience the full length of a pregnancy with Ricky. She had cut him out of so much of the first one, she knew she wanted to do it as a team the second time around. It was just a matter of when. She was certain they’d have another baby someday, really the question was more when, than if.

“Hey,” he leaned against the counter, brushing her hair out of her face.

“Hey,” she smiled gratefully over at him. “Are you excited for Halloween?”

“Very excited. John is going to look great in his Eeyore costume.”

“He loves Eeyore more than any of the other characters in Winnie the Pooh. I knew as soon as he passed it he would pick it.”

“Eeyore is your favorite too. I think you and John are ganging up on me about favorite things.”

She put the last dish on the drying rack. “Not the most important favorite things.”

“What would those be?”

“You.”

He grinned. “You’re kidding. John’s favorite person in the entire world is you.”

“That’s not true,” she looked a little awed, “do you really think so?”

“I know so. And honestly, I can’t blame him. You’re one of my favorite people.”

“And you’re one of mine,” she smiled brightly.

Since the end of their conversation on their anniversary, Ricky hadn’t asked her any further questions about making a decision. She appreciated that he was letting her come to a decision on her own without any pressure from him. He was excited at the thought, she could tell, but he was giving her time to be sure.

She was just about to grab the towel to dry the dishes but he beat her to it. He hummed as he worked, seemingly oblivious to her staring. It wasn’t until he had put the last of the dishes away that he caught her. “What?” He looked at her in suspicion.

“We should do it. I want us to have another baby. As soon as we can.”

His face lit up. “Are you serious? Are you messing with me? You’re messing with me.”

“No, I’m not messing with you. I want to try. Starting today. I finished the month, I won’t start the new one.”

“Are you sure? You’re not just doing this because I want to do it?”

She looked at him incredulously. “You know I would never do that. I want to have another baby. With you.” She eased up onto the counter, grabbing his hand to pull him closer. “I want us to do it together this time.”

“I love you, I love you so much,” he cupped her cheeks, leaning in to kiss her. “You’re sure this is what you want? What about school?”

“Well, if we’re lucky, we’ll get pregnant as easily as we did the first time. Otherwise, I’ll take time off school. My scholarships can stay in place even if I take a semester off, I checked. We can do it, you said we have the money, and I _want_ to do it. I want us to do this.”

Kissing her again, he brushed the hair off her face. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“So,” he raised his eyebrows, “we better get a head start.”

She laughed. “It takes at least a while for the pill to get out of my system.”

Ricky smirked. “Well, then we better get some practice in so we’re ready.”

After getting John into his costume, Amy got to work putting on her own. Ricky had told her he’d be home in time so they could all go trick or treating together. Her father and Kathleen had decided to have a small party at their house rather than bring Robbie out. Amy and Ricky had agreed to bring John by after they brought him out for a little while.

The only problem was that Ricky was currently running late. 

Sighing, Amy looked as John wandered into the bathroom. Wrapping a hand in the fabric of her skirt, he leaned heavily against her leg. He looked so cute in his costume she was tempted to take even more pictures than she already had. 

“Hey, baby,” she ran a hand over the hood of his costume, “are you excited to go trick or treating?”

“Candy!” He perked up right away. “Can we go?”

“As soon as daddy comes home and changes.”

“Daddy’s costume?”

“No, daddy didn’t want a costume. But he’s coming with us. Then we’ll go to grandpa’s and see Robbie and Grace and Kathleen.”

“I like Grandma Kathleen.”

“I know you do, babe. You hungry? Should we have a snack?”

John nodded quickly. “Yes, please.”

He didn’t let go of her legs so she picked him up, carrying him to the kitchen. She took a second to check her phone to see if there were any messages from Ricky, balancing John on her hip. He was getting almost too big for her to carry him, even though he was fairly small for his age. She planned to do it until it became impossible. 

Opening the fridge she grabbed the carrot sticks, holding the bag open so he could grab some. Munching happily on a carrot, he laid his head on her shoulder, his other hand wound in her hair. It was another ten minutes before the door opened and Ricky came in.

She could tell right away something was wrong. “What happened?”

When he saw her, he smirked. “Are you a good witch?”

“Depends on my mood,” she shook her head as she fought back a smile. “Really though, what happened?”

“You’ll never guess who I ran into today.”

“Is it someone good or bad?”

He shrugged. “I’m not really sure. It was Ben. Apparently, he’s struggling in New York and wants to come home. Leo’s hope that he’d grow up being across the country apparently didn’t come about.”

“What’s the other part?”

“Sometimes I hate how well you know me,” he sighed. “The other part is Grace accidentally told him about the little Halloween party tonight. She called to tell me.”

“How accidentally? And why would she call you and not me?”

“I need a lot more time to prepare to be nice than you do. And apparently he was touring campus and she bumped into him. She was surprised, and in a rush to get to class, and, well… She had just mentioned the party, and I guess he asked if he could come and she was nearly late.”

Amy shook her head, adjusting John again. “Fine, whatever. It’s really not a big deal. It’s literally going to be all parents and kids, some from the church. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I’m not worried… not really anyways.” He frowned. “It’s just… He almost always says something really s-h-i-t-t-y to you. And I know you don’t care about his opinion, but it still hurts you.”

“He says s-h-i-t-t-y things to you too. But I love you, and we’re trying to have another baby, and I refuse to let him ruin Halloween. John and I love Halloween, and we’re going to have a good time no matter who shows up to the party,” she tilted her chin determinedly.

He grinned, shaking his head fondly. “Alright then. I’ll hurry up and change so we can take John trick or treating like we promised.” Walking over he gave her a kiss and rubbed John’s back. 

“You know, John wants you to wear a costume.”

John, who had been quiet the whole time, lifted his head. “Costume?”

Ricky laughed. “I don’t have a costume, buddy. You and your mommy look cute enough that I don’t even need one.”

When Amy and Ricky arrived at the party, it was a little past seven. John had taken an extra long nap in the afternoon so he was still awake and excited, wriggling to get down as soon as they walked in the door. Ricky set him down and took his hand to keep him from running away, offering his other to Amy.

There were some adults lingering in the living room, but the inside was relatively quiet. It was outside where the party was happening. There were decorations everywhere, tables set up, and even a piñata hanging on the tree in the back. Amy thought it was really nice that her dad and Kathleen had decided to throw a party so kids whose parents didn’t approve of trick or treating could still have plenty of fun. 

George spotted them as soon as they stepped out, and Ricky let go of John’s hand to let him run to his grandfather, watching him as he did. “Grandpa!” John dashed through the yard.

As soon as he reached his grandfather he was scooped off the ground. When they reached the two of them, George was grinning. “Hey, daughter, son-in-law.”

“Father.”

“Father in law,” Ricky nodded solemnly.

Rolling his eyes, George set John down who immediately went to hide behind Amy’s legs. “I’m glad you could make it. What do you think, angel face?”

“I think it’s great,” Amy glanced around, “it looks like everyone is having so much fun.”

“You know Ben is coming?”

“I do, Grace told Ricky, and Ricky told me.”

“I can call and uninvite him.”

“No, dad, thank you, but no. He gets progressively more weird if I don’t just get seeing him over with. Besides, it’s my favorite holiday, I just had my first wedding anniversary a few days ago. There’s nothing he could do to ruin my good mood.”

“How was the anniversary stuck at home?”

Amy and Ricky shared a small smile. “It was great. We had Chinese food and talked and hung out with John. It was really nice.”

The smile on her father’s face was genuine. “Good, I’m glad.” He gestured to the party. “Kathleen and Robbie are around somewhere, and I think Grace wanted to talk to you. You hungry? There’s plenty of food. All those church people sure do love to bring food.” 

“We didn’t have a chance to eat dinner, so I’m starving,” she gave Ricky a kiss, “I’ll go grab something to eat and then find Grandma Kathleen and Auntie Grace. I’m not sure he’s a fan of all these strangers.”

“Alright, I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes.”

Nodding, Amy took John by the hand and started through the crowd. John stayed half hidden behind her as they walked along, hiding completely a few times. She had already fed John dinner before they’d left the apartment, but she decided to grab some food and find a quiet place for them to sit. She knew that even though he was a bit nervous, John would throw a fit if they left too soon.

After getting some food, Amy led John to the back of the yard. There were lights strung up everywhere, so even the back corner was lit up. She had grabbed an extra table cloth that had just been sitting on the table with all the food. John waited patiently as she set it down and sat down on the ground, her back against the tree trunk behind her. Instead of sitting beside her he took his place on her lap, legs stretched out over hers.

She bounced him slightly. “Are you a little nervous?” 

“No,” he shook his head hard, beginning to play with the rings on her finger.

“Are you hungry? I found you some chicken fingers and French fries.”

He held out his hand in front of him, waiting for her to give him the food. Smiling she placed it on his palm and he began eating it right away. The sound of music and laughter filled the air, and she picked up her own chicken finger. They sat quietly as they ate. Despite making a face when he found out the French fries were cold, John continued to ask for more until she’d run out.

“If you want more, we’ll have to get up, buddy.”

“No, thank you.”

She chuckled kissing the top of his head. “How about we go play a game? Look, isn’t that Kylie? She’s your friend from school.” She pointed across the yard to where kids were playing a game of ring toss.

“I wanna stay with you.”

“I could go with you, we could play it together.”

John seemed to be thinking about it when he looked up and saw Ricky coming over. “Daddy!” He pointed excitedly.

Ricky grinned. “How did I know I’d find you two here?”

“We prefer to watch all the action, don’t we John?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Sit with us,” he leaned over to pat the ground beside them.

“I’d love to.” Ricky sat down next to them, wrapping an arm around Amy’s waist and pressing a kiss to her temple. “Did I tell you how beautiful you look?”

“I think it was implied in your tone when you saw me. But thank you.”

“Did you wear a costume last year? I think I’d remember any costume like this.”

“John and I went in matching pajamas. You didn’t get to come with us.”

“Well, I think from now on I might have to make time. I love seeing the two of you so happy.”

She rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. “You seem really happy tonight too.”

“I am, I am really happy. I can’t get over…” His voice trailed off and she was about to ask him what was wrong when he spoke again. “Hey, Ben.”

Her eyes popped open and she looked up to see Ben standing a few feet away. “Ben, hi,” she huffed out a breath when John slumped back against her with a little too much force. “How are you?”

He looked between the two of them a few times before his gaze settled on her. “I’m ok. I’m thinking of transferring back here.”

“I’ve heard. Don’t you like New York?”

“I do… or I thought I did, but I think I want to come home.”

“Well, I hope everything works out. Ricky and I were just…” She looked at her husband for help.

“We were just going to take John to find his Auntie Grace and then play with his friends,” Ricky piped up.

Ben’s eyes narrowed. “Do you have to do everything together just because you’re married?”

“Yes,” Amy and Ricky answered in unison, grinning at each other.

Ricky continued talking. “I mean no, but we like doing everything together. Anyways… it was nice seeing you again. Hey, John, let’s get up and go play a game.” Ricky stood, getting John onto his feet and giving Amy a hand up as well. He picked up the plate and after they all stepped off the table cloth, he rolled it up and tucked it under his arm.

Ben was still standing there watching them as Amy picked John up. “Enjoy the rest of the party, Ben. We’ll see you around.”

They exchanged a look as they walked off but didn’t say a word. John wrapped his arms around Amy’s neck, watching everyone over her shoulder. After throwing the plate away and putting the cloth back where Amy had found it, it didn’t take long to find Grace.

When she saw them, Grace grinned, excusing herself from the conversation she was in. “Amy! Oh, I am so happy to see you! I’m so sorry about inviting Ben, I swear I didn’t mean to!”

“It’s fine. I would have had to see him at one point or another, especially if he’s moving back here. You and Kathleen did a great job on the party.”

“Thanks! I actually got some help from your mom. Your dad said she used to throw you Halloween parties since you loved it so much.”

“She did. I loved Halloween parties more than my birthday parties. It’s nice to be back at one. It’s been years since anyone put one together.”

“We figured since you didn’t want an anniversary party, we could at least give you a Halloween party. Don’t let me forget to give you your anniversary present. I’ve been holding on to it to give to you since we haven’t seen each other this week.”

Ricky raised an eyebrow. “So you two haven’t had a chance to talk?”

Grace looked at him in confusion. “Talk about what?”

He shook his head. “No, never mind. Amy can tell you when she’s ready.”

“Ready? Is it something bad?”

Before Grace could work herself up any further, Amy cut her off. “No, it’s not something bad. I’ll tell you soon, promise.”

Blowing out a breath, Grace nodded. “Ok, alright. As long as it’s not bad, I can wait.”

“Good, because you have to,” Amy smiled wryly. “We’re going to go find your mom, and then take John to play a game. After the piñata, we’ll head home. John’s a bit tired.”

“Am not!” John picked his head up, looking at them crossly. 

“Ok, but Mommy’s tired. Would it be ok if we left in a little while?”

John thought about it for a long moment before nodding. “Ok.”


	6. Chapter 6

When Ricky came home for the third day in a row tensed up and seemingly ready for a fight, Amy knew it was time to give him a little space. She had tried to talk to him about what was bothering him but he had brushed her off, and she knew from experience there was no way he’d talk about it until he was good and ready. On Friday, before he’d gotten home, Amy packed bags for her and John so they’d be able to leave as soon as he was. 

After her father and Kathleen had gotten married and Anne and Ashley had decided to move to Italy for the foreseeable future, there had been a question of who would live where. Ultimately, her father had bought the house from his ex-wife and helped sell the condo once Anne was in Italy.

At first, Kathleen had kept the Bowman house. Grace hadn’t been ready to let it go, but once school had started and she’d moved into a dorm, she had given her mother the ok. Milton had ended up buying the house, and he lived there with Rachel and her kids, while Tom still lived in the guest house. 

Amy’s room at her father’s house was still empty, and Grace stayed in Ashley’s old garage room. Kathleen and George had brought Robbie to Italy for the first three weeks of December to see Ashley and Anne since they had decided not to come home for the holidays. 

The house was currently empty since Grace was still at school, she’d asked for permission to stay there the weekend and her father had granted it. It wasn’t the first time she’d gone there to give Ricky his space, and she was certain it wouldn’t be the last. The ability to leave him alone for a few days when it was needed was one of the things that kept their relationship going strong. 

Just as she’d suspected, when Ricky got home, he looked just as annoyed as he had the last few days. Looking up from her book, she tilted her head. “Hey.”

The smile he shot her was tinged with exhaustion. “Hey.”

“So, John will be done with his quiet time in a few minutes, and I decided we’d spend the weekend at my dad’s house.”

“The three of us?”

“The two of us. I think you need a few days to yourself.”

“I don’t.” She leveled him with a look and his shoulders slumped. “I hate kicking you out of the apartment.”

“You’re not. You never are. It’s ok to need space, you know that.”

“You never seem to.”

“Liar. You take John out all the time to give me time to myself.”

“But never for a weekend,” he crossed his arms over his chest, practically pouting.

She shook her head in amusement. “Last time I didn’t take enough time for myself, I ended up in the hospital. You at least have the common sense to do it before it goes that far.”

“Fine, I concede your point…” His face softened as he looked at her. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

They stayed smiling softly at each other until they heard John padding out of his room. When he saw Ricky, he ran to him right away, holding up his arms to be picked up. As soon as he was up off the ground he wrapped his arms tightly around his father’s neck.

“Daddy!”

“Hey, buddy. I hear you’re going to grandpa’s for the weekend.”

“Grandpa has a TV,” John grinned.

“Yes he does, but we’re not spending all weekend watching TV. We’re going to the aquarium tomorrow.”

“The aquarium?”

“You can come too, if you’re up for it.” Seeing the indecision on his face, she shook her head. “We can go again over winter break, all three of us.”

“Oh, ok, good,” he sighed in relief. 

“Well, we’re going to get going. I promised we’d go shopping and make him breakfast for dinner. He wants to have a movie night.”

“That sounds like fun, I’ll go down with you.”

Amy grabbed the bags she’d put on the chair along with her purse, and her jacket. “Alright, let’s go.”

After he’d gotten John strapped into his seat, Ricky turned to Amy and took her hand. “Have a good weekend, I’ll call you tonight.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know, but I’ll want to,” he leaned in to give her a kiss. “I love you.”

“And I love you. I’ll see you Sunday night. Maybe you’ll ready to talk by then.”

He let go of her hand somewhat reluctantly and shrugged. “Maybe.” 

She cupped his cheek. “It’s just a weekend, and whenever you’re ready, we’ll come home or you can come stay with us.”

Unable to help the smile that crept onto his face, he nodded. “Ok, ok. Go.”

Giving him a final kiss, she walked around to the driver’s side and got in. As she started the car, she saw Ricky step back, but by the time she had backed out and was ready to go, he was still standing on the sidewalk. She waved before she put the car into gear and drove away.

John was awake and looking excited in the back seat and she grinned. “You ready to go shopping?”

“Yes! I want eggs!”

“I know you do, bud. Do you need a snack before we go in?”

“No, thank you.”

It was nice to see John in such a good mood, because it helped ease her worry about her husband. Flipping on the radio, she smiled when she heard John start to hum along. Ricky was already trying to teach him drums, and it seemed at the very least they had passed on their love for music to their son. She still played French horn for him sometimes, and it always felt really special when John was the one to ask her to do it.

Amy had just gotten out of the shower when she heard her phone ringing. John was fast asleep and she rushed to grab it before he could wake him, not bothering to check the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Amy! Hey, do you mind if I come stay for the weekend?”

Her brow furrowed. “Grace, it’s your house too.”

Grace’s laugh was a little shrill. “Right, right. I forget sometimes. My mom said you were there for the weekend, and I thought I’d come spend it with you.”

“John would love to see you. We’re going to the aquarium tomorrow, you should come.”

“Sounds like fun! I’ll be there in a few hours, but I’ll go straight to bed, so I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Alright, drive safe.”

“Thanks!” 

Amy waited for Grace to hang up before she hung up herself. Pulling the blanket over John, she pressed a kiss to his forehead. He had tried to stay up so she would read him a story, but after a long day at school and the nursery, the energy from his nap had worn off soon after dinner.

She had to work on a paper that would be due Monday, so after fetching her school bag she settled at the desk with only a small lamp on. Only a few minutes after she’d started working, her phone rang again. Assuming it was just Grace, she answered again.

“Grace, I told you it’s fine if you come stay here. It’s your house!”

Ricky chuckled. “So, Grace is coming to spend the weekend?”

“Yes, she seems a bit stressed. I think the pressure of finals is setting in.”

“I know the feeling. How was movie night?”

“Very fun. John tuckered himself out, he was asleep before I could even read him a story.”

“I assume you’re letting him sleep in your bed?”

“He likes it! Besides, he wakes up so much less if he sleeps in our bed… my bed… whatever.”

“It does seem to put him more at ease. Have you heard from anyone but Grace tonight?”

“No, why?”

“I thought Ben might call.”

Amy set her pen down, shoving her hair back. “Ben, why would Ben call me?”

“Leo told me he’s definitely coming back. Once he gets here for winter break, he’s not going back to New York.”

“Maybe we should go to New York.”

“It’s not worth it. We can’t afford a move like that  _ and _ have another baby… Unless you would rather move,” he sounded unsure.

“Ricky, I was joking. Our parents are here, we go to school here, the nursery is here. Who cares if Ben is coming back?”

“I don’t really, but he really makes it hard to be nice to him. I’m sure he’ll be coming back to the butcher shop. I don’t want it to be like in high school where everything was a competition and Ben and Adrian were doing all they could to break us up.”

“You’re the one who taught me that we can only control what we do. And this is different than high school. We’re adults now, and we have a much stronger relationship now than we did then. We trust each other and talk about everything. No secrets anymore. Ben and Adrian can’t do anything to change that.”

He blew out a breath. “Well, in the spirit of no secrets… Adrian and Omar are taking a break again.”

“They seem to do that a lot. She called you?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t answer, and I haven’t talked to her since I ran into her on campus while you were sick.”

“You can talk to her if you want, I trust you.”

“I know you do,” she could hear the smile in his voice, “but I have no interest in talking to her. All she ever wants is to stir up trouble. Half the time she pretends to forget we’re married, acting like you’re some burden of responsibility that was put on me.”

Amy chuckled. “Well, I am difficult.”

“And I love you for it. I just don’t want to talk to her unless I have to. You and me and Adrian and Ben, we could never really be friends. At least not until they resolve their feelings the way we did.”

She twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “Even then, I’m not sure I’d want to be friends with them. They’ve said and done too many awful things for me to want that.”

“It does make it awfully hard to fully forgive them when the shit they do never seems to end.”

“Yeah, but at this point it’s more their problem than ours. We’re married, we have a family that will be expanding soon, we’re happy together.”

“No regrets?”

“None.” Amy grinned, shaking her head even though he couldn’t see. “I love you, but I have some work I have to do before I go to bed. Talk to you tomorrow?”

“I’ll call you in the morning before work. Bunny gave me some extra hours so we’ll have a bit more money for Christmas.”

“We already got John all his gifts.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to get you something really special.”

“You just brought me on a weekend getaway. I don’t need any gifts for Christmas. I’d rather save the money for later.”

“Ok, ok, fine, you’re probably right. But I’m getting you something.”

“I’m getting you something too, but nothing huge.”

He let out an overexaggerated sigh. “I thought I was supposed to be the one who worried about money.”

“You are, and you do. But we’re trying for a baby. We should save as much as we can before then.”

“I can’t wait. I’ll let you go. Are you sure you want to keep John all weekend if you have work to do?”

“Positive. I’m nearly finished,” she lied.

“Liar,” he chuckled. “But ok. Talk to you in the morning.”

Amy hung up, unable to keep the smile off her face as she got back to her assignment. She buckled down and concentrated hard and got a good few hours of work done before she heard rustling behind her. Turning around, she saw John sitting up in bed frowning.

“Mommy?”

“I’m coming to bed right now, baby.” She threw her hair up in a bun and flipped off the desk lamp, glad she’d thought to brush her teeth earlier on. She climbed under the covers and John didn’t even wait for her to settle in before he rolled half on top of her. Rolling her eyes she moved as little as possible to get comfortable before wrapping an arm around him and drifting off to sleep.

There had been no alarm set since it was Saturday, but John was more reliable than an alarm anyway. She woke up to find him squishing her face between his hands and grinning. “Daddy’s coming for breakfast!”

“No, daddy’s getting ready for work. He’ll call and say good morning.”

“Auntie Grace says he’s coming,” he crossed his arms across his chest. He always looked most like Ricky when he did it.

“You saw Auntie Grace?”

“She got me milk.”

“Ok, well. You go hang out with Auntie Grace so I can get dressed, ok?”

“Fine,” he huffed out a breath and slid off the bed, padding out of the room.

Shaking her head Amy sat up, feeling a little funny, She passed it off as not enough sleep and too much stress and stood, grabbing clothes from her bag and heading to the bathroom. After she had gotten dressed and fixed her hair she went downstairs, happy when the smell of coffee reached her on the stairs.

Heading into the kitchen she saw John at the table coloring and Grace moving around as she made breakfast. When Grace spotted her, she smiled brightly. “Morning!”

“Ugh,” Amy groaned, “how are you so awake this early?”

“I already had my coffee. And I always wake up this early.” She handed over a mug. Amy wasn’t surprised when she took a sip and it was made just how she liked it.

“Do you need any help?”

“Nope! Monkey bread is in the oven, and I’ll start the eggs soon. John really loves his scrambled eggs, doesn’t he?”

“They’re his favorite breakfast… probably next to the monkey bread you make. He can’t get enough of that stuff,” she glanced over her shoulder, “he’s probably in heaven right now.”

“I love spending time with him.”

“He loves spending time with you too. He’s so excited to give you your Christmas present in a few weeks.”

John looked up. “Mommy! Don’t tell her!”

“Whoops,” Amy smiled apologetically. “I didn’t know it was a surprise.” He rolled his eyes and returned to his coloring without another word. 

“He’s just like you.”

“Sometimes. Sometimes he’s just like Ricky. He looks just like Ricky at the very least.”

“Yeah, but he has your smile. Oh! By the way, Ricky called to say he’s coming for breakfast. He knew you wouldn’t be up so early.” She turned to check on the bread before walking to the fridge.

“Well, he’s right, but I didn’t expect him to come over here.”

“He wants to see you two. I think it’s sweet.”

Amy blushed. “It is.”

Before Grace could say anything more, there was a knock at the door. Grinning when she saw Ricky she waved him in. John looked up from his coloring, all traces of his earlier annoyance gone. “Daddy!” He slid off the chair and ran to his dad.

Ricky carried him back over, stopping to give Amy a kiss. “Good morning.”

“Morning. I wasn’t expecting you.”

He shrugged. “I thought I’d come by before work. Maybe I’ll stay here with you guys tonight.”

“More movie night!” John smiled excitedly. “With Grace and daddy!”

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” Ricky kissed his head.

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

She studied his face for any lingering tension or reluctance, but he seemed to be back to his usual self. “I’ll make sure to get him home for a good nap then. It’s going to be a busy day,” she ran her hand over John’s curls. She looked up to see Grace pulling out plates and cups. “Here, let me help.”

Grace handed them over. “Thanks. Hey, Ricky, it feels like forever since I last saw you.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “We had lunch on campus together last week. You wanted to hear all the details about our weekend out of town.”

“Ohhhh… That’s right.” She glared at him halfheartedly. “And you wouldn’t spill any of the details. You two are up to something,” she waved her finger between them.

Amy exchanged a look with her husband, biting back a smile before returning to setting the table. “Fine, don’t tell me then.”

Ricky grinned. “Ok, we won’t.”

Grace shook her head in mock disappointment. “And you call yourself my sister.”

“Your stepsister, actually.” John held his arms out to her and Ricky handed him over. “Maybe if you buy me lunch I’ll tell you.”

“It’s my turn to buy lunch anyhow.”

“So you have nothing to lose.”

They grinned at each other before the timer went off. Grace took the bread out of the oven and set it on top. “I’ll make the eggs while this cools. Everything should be ready in like ten minutes.”

“I’ll go get John dressed then. We can leave for the aquarium right after we clean everything up.”

Ricky put a hand on her elbow and gave her another kiss. “I’ll help Grace finish up down here then.”


	7. ***

Amy woke up the morning of Christmas Eve feeling sick to her stomach. When she blinked her eyes open it was still dark and she took a deep breath through her nose. Getting up as slowly as she could she walked to the kitchen to grab some water. She had only taken a few sips before she was sent running to the bathroom. 

She didn’t even have time to close the door before she was on her knees and heaving. After a while, her stomach finally settled enough so she could sit back against the tub behind her, feeling exhausted. Pulling her knees up to her chest she rested her chin in her arms.

She was half asleep when Ricky appeared in the doorway. “Hey, gorgeous,” he tilted his head, “you look like hell.”

Smiling up at him she shook her head. “Thanks, babe.”

Realization dawned on his face. “Do you think…”

Her eyes widened. “I… don’t know. Maybe. I hadn’t even thought about that.”

His grin looked a little goofy as he gave her a hand up. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and let her go so she could brush her teeth. “I’m going to go buy a test.”

“Right now?”

“Right now.”

“In your pajamas?”

He looked down as if confused. “Right. It’s like six in the morning,” he shook his head. “Who cares? I can’t wait.”

She laughed. “Ok, ok, go. I’ll keep an ear out for John. He’s been up on and off all night. He thought Santa might come early.”

“You could have woken me up.”

“You took care of him so I could study for my finals. Plus there were a few times where he just wanted to sleep in bed with us.”

“Ok, ok. I’ll be back in forty minutes. I’ll make you pancakes.” He gave her a kiss before leaving the bathroom. 

“Don’t forget shoes!” She called after him.

There was a long pause before he scoffed. “How could I forget shoes?”

She rolled her eyes and waited for the sound of the door opening and closing. Her stomach felt a little more settled but she went to the kitchen for some crackers to be sure it stayed that way. Standing at the counter nibbling on crackers she zoned out, unable to keep the little smile off her face.

After about ten minutes she was already fidgeting, but John chose that moment to wander out. “Hey, baby,” she smiled brightly.

Since he almost always climbed into their bed when he woke up, he looked surprised to see her in the kitchen. “It’s sleep time,” he eyed her suspiciously.

“Alright, let’s go back to sleep for a while. Daddy went out on an errand. Do you want me to get your teddy bear?”

John nodded happily, running and climbing onto the bed. By the time she returned with his bear he was already under the covers. When she got onto the bed he curled into her side, clutching the bear under his arm. He was asleep in just a few minutes, hand curled into her hair. She watched him fondly for a bit but soon enough her eyes slipped shut as well.

When Ricky returned to the apartment, he spotted Amy and John on the bed. Immediately softening, he shut the door quietly behind him and took off his jacket. He’d gone to the all night pharmacy that was a little farther away to buy the test since no one knew they were trying for another baby. Because Grace always got a little too overexcited, Amy had even decided against telling her.

Unlike the night last year where he’d run out to get a test, all he felt was excitement. After kicking off his shoes he debated going back to bed, but he was too wound up to sleep. Instead he settled at the kitchen table with a book, finding his eyes drawn back to his sleeping family over and over.

By the time he finally managed to concentrate an hour had passed, and it was only a few minutes before John stirred. His son sat up slowly, hand still tangled in Amy’s hair. It looked like he was going to say something so Ricky pressed a finger to his lips.

“Mommy’s still sleepy, bud. How about you come help me make breakfast?”

John was careful as he untangled his hand, and unprompted he leaned over to kiss Amy on the forehead. There was a moment where Ricky’s emotions swelled up and threatened to overwhelm him, but John was up and off the bed with his teddy bear and running over for a hug before they could. 

Standing up he scooped John off the ground, smiling when it made him giggle. “Alright, what is mommy’s favorite breakfast?”

“Blueberry pancakes!”

“Exactly. It will make mommy very happy when she wakes up.” He gave him a kiss on the head. “How about you get the blueberries for me?”

Once John was set back on the ground, he ran to the fridge and pulled the door open. Ricky grabbed everything else they would need to make pancakes, shutting the fridge door after John had gotten the berries.

“If I put you on the counter, will you stay still this time?”

John nodded excitedly. “Yes! I promise!”

He chuckled. “Ok, up you go.” He lifted John up onto the counter, with his bear. “But remember you don’t want to fall, so don’t wiggle around, and tell me if you want to get down.”

“Mmk,” John hugged his bear to his chest.

Ricky got started on the pancakes, chatting with John as he worked. Despite the fact that John had woken up so many times during the night he seemed to have plenty of energy. “So, you excited for Christmas?” He poured some batter on the pan, glancing at his son.

“Santa’s going to come!” John held himself very still so he wouldn’t wiggle in excitement.

“Yes he is. Auntie Grace is going to give you cookies for Santa.”

“And carrots for deers?”

“Well, we have plenty of carrots in the fridge for Santa’s reindeer. We can leave some of those out.”

There was a soft groan from the living room and Ricky glanced over his shoulder and saw Amy stretching. When John spotted Amy blinking her eyes open his face lit up. “Mommy! I’m staying still!” His voice carried through the apartment.

She smiled sleepily, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. “Good job, buddy.” Sitting up she tilted her head, sniffing the air. “What smells good?”

“Blueberry pancakes. Your favorite,” he turned so he could look at her. “You look a bit pale.”

Amy waved her hand airily in his direction. “I’m fine, just a little nauseous. Did you get it?”

“It’s on the chair.”

After grabbing the brown paper bag, she wandered into the kitchen, giving John a kiss on the head. “Hey,” she leaned into Ricky’s side, arm around his waist.

He smiled against her temple. “Hey,” he paused. “I’m madly in love with you.”

It startled a laugh from her. “I’m madly in love with you too. Don’t worry, I’ll go take it right now.”

“I didn’t say you had to.”

She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You didn’t have to. Plus, I want to know.”

Leaving him standing at the stove she headed to the bathroom where he heard the door close behind her. John had started humming the song that Amy always sang him when he was having trouble sleeping. “How about you set the table?”

John nodded. “Okay.”

Ricky paused to lift him off the counter and grab all the plates and cups. John set his teddy bear on the table beside his plate. When the pancakes were done Ricky grabbed the syrup and butter and poured John his milk. He tried to pretend he wasn’t one minute from pacing around until Amy got out of the bathroom.

When she did finally emerge he stopped short and turned to her. Her expression was unreadable and he swallowed hard. “Well?”

She held it up for him to see. “It’s positive!”

Sucking in a breath, he stared at her in awe. “It’s positive? For real?”

“Well, I took the second just to be sure and it was positive too. But I’ll have to go to the doctor’s to double check.”

“They’re open today, right? Please tell me they’re open today.”

She shrugged, smiling crookedly. “I’ll call the office. If they’re not, you’re going to be pacing around for the next two days.”

Ricky couldn’t help the goofy smile on his face as he watched Amy sitting across from him with John on her lap. Ever since her brief doctor’s appointment the day before, he had barely been able to take his eyes off of her. He was so giddy he’d let himself be talked into wearing an ugly Christmas sweater to dinner with their families later on. God, he loved this woman.

She met his gaze over John’s head and he smiled sheepishly. He was so unbelievably happy it was surreal. The only thing that put a slight damper on the feeling was the realization that he had missed out on it when she’d been pregnant with John. The circumstances had been so different back then, but he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

The appointment at the doctor’s had been a quick one, squeezed in at the end of the office hours just to confirm she was really pregnant. They had agreed to keep it to themselves for another month or two. Long enough for her to be followed by the doctor and be sure everything was ok. He was bursting to tell someone the news, but it felt like if he said the words out loud to anyone but Amy, it would turn out to be a dream.

Amy had been up sick for hours the night before but when John had climbed into their bed at six to tell them Santa had come, she’d gotten up right away. It was going to be a long day for her.

Last year, everyone had been learning just how to bring all their family together. He and Amy had wanted their first Christmas as a married couple to be just them and John. They’d skipped the small celebration at her father’s house on Christmas, opting to see him the day after. This year, everyone who was able to come would be at George and Kathleen’s house at two.

When they’d sat down to open presents, he had been charged with taking pictures, but he’d gotten a little distracted. Handing another present to John, he was sure to take pictures. Amy looked tired and beautiful and the calm feeling in his chest made him feel warm all over. 

Once John had opened each gift he’d been left under the tree, he hurried to grab a small package that had been hidden at the back. “Here’s yours,” he handed it to Ricky before plopping himself in his lap.

Amy held out her hand and without needing to be asked, Ricky handed over the camera. He opened the package carefully even through the paper was already half ripped. When he opened the small box inside and pulled the sheet of fluff off the top, his brow furrowed. Laying there on more fluff was a teddy bear keychain almost fully covered with pink and clear rhinestones.

Looking up at Amy for explanation, he saw her biting back a smile. “He picked it out for you all by himself. Since you lose your keys a lot, he thought the teddy bear might help.”

“And the pink?”

John looked over his shoulder at him like he was crazy. “Pink is a pretty color.”

Just a few years earlier Ricky probably wouldn’t have been thrilled by the color, but between what he’d learned since then, and the fact that it was a gift from his son, he was just happy. “How about you grab my keys for me, John?”

Ignoring the question, John spoke again. “I have another present for you!” Crawling back, he reached under the tree for another wrapped box. He looked just as excited to hand it over, and this time he returned to Amy’s lap, fidgeting as he clasped his hands together. “Open it!”

The wrapping on this one was only slightly better than the one before it, but he was still careful as he opened it. When he opened it he was even more confused. “What’s this?”

“Your costume! For Halloween!”

He lifted the piece of paper out of the box. “I don’t think this is going to fit.”

“John means it’s what we’re going to buy to wear. He wants to go out and find them all together.”

“So we’re going to be…” He trailed off, looking at her for help.

“Bats. His favorite Halloween book is about a little bat.”

Ricky smiled softly. “Well, I can’t wait.”

“How long ‘til Halloween?”

“Ten months. But, there’s lots to do before then.”

John crossed his arms over his chest. “Like what?”

“Well, we have the rest of Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, Easter, all of our birthdays…”

“Oh,” the four-year-old relaxed. “Ok.”

Amy brushed his hair off his forehead. “The year will go by quick, I promise.”

His face lit up. “It’s your turn!”

He scrambled off her lap and grabbed an envelope and a small box from under the tree. When he handed them over, he stayed kneeling right in front of her, puffing up his chest proudly. “Me and daddy got these.”

When Amy opened the envelope and saw a gift card to the Dairy Shack she laughed out loud which led to John giggling as well. “This is great.”

“Now this one,” John tapped the box she’d set down beside her leg.

Picking it up she unwrapped it quickly popping the box open. When she saw the little keychain she grinned. “You’re really into keychains this year, huh?”

“I made that one!”

Studying the small twist of clay, she nodded. “I love it. Thank you.”

She opened her arms and John went to her right away. Pressing a kiss to his cheek, she smiled over his shoulder at Ricky. His goofy look was back in full force. “Did you remember to take any pictures?”

It took Ricky a moment to process the words. “A few, I think.”

Amy rolled her eyes. “How would you feel about a few more hours of sleep after breakfast?”

John pulled back so he could see her face, hands on her shoulders. “Will you read me a Christmas story?”

“Of course I will."

He shrugged. “K."


	8. ****

By the time winter break was over and it was time to go back to school, Amy was sporting a small baby bump. Over the last month, Ricky had grown to understand how she had hidden her pregnancy so long the first time. She made it look almost easy to hide the morning sickness, fatigue, and swollen feet. Even Grace, who had spent much of her winter break hanging out with Amy, hadn’t seemed to notice anything. 

They were fast approaching the ten week mark, but they were still deciding when to tell everyone. There was something nice about keeping it to themselves a while longer.

After a month of spending nearly all his time outside of work with she and John, he was reluctant for it to end. Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he put his hand over the small curve of her belly through the sweatshirt of his she was wearing. 

He didn’t have to see her face to know she was grinning. “Are you going to be like this for the whole time I'm pregnant?”

His answer came immediately. “Yes.”

She chuckled. “Good to know.” Taking a deep breath through her nose she blew it out slowly before resuming packing her bag. 

“Nauseous?”

“A little.”

“I’ll grab you some crackers.” Reluctantly stepping away he went to the cabinets.

By the time he turned around, Amy was facing him. “You don’t have to wake up early with me everyday you know. There’s no use in both of us being tired.”

He handed her the crackers, and shook his head. “Who would hold your hair back if I don’t get up?”

“A hair elastic?”

“Hair elastics can’t get you water or crackers or rub your back. I don’t mind, I promise.” He put his hand back over the bump, grinning ecstatically. “That’s our baby, and I’m going to do anything I can to make your pregnancy as easy as possible.”

“Including telling my father?”

“Including telling your father. I don’t even know if he’ll be upset with us or not. It’s not like it was an accident this time.”

“I’m not sure if that will bother him more or less,” she sighed softly.

“We’re responsible adults. We thought this all through, and we’re married. No offense to your father, but it was our decision to make.”

“I know.” Her face lit up. “Are you excited for the ultrasound appointment this week?”

“Yeah, I am. I’m excited for everything. I just… thank you.”

She frowned slightly. “For what?”

“For giving me this.”

Wrapping her arms around his neck she gave him a kiss. “You don’t have to thank me. I wanted us to do this as much as you did.”

Ricky smirked, swallowing back the lump in his throat. “Yeah, I noticed.”

Laughing, she pushed his shoulder and rolled her eyes. “John’s going to be up soon. We promised him a good breakfast now that our schedules will be hectic again.”

“You know he’s going to tell everyone that he’s getting a brother or sister, don’t you?”

She smiled sunnily. “I know, we just have to beat the news to my dad’s house.” 

By the time Valentine’s day had passed, everyone knew their news, and the reactions were varied. George started out upset, but quickly got over it when he saw how happy Amy was. Kathleen, while initially hesitant soon took on her husband’s mindset about the news.

Grace was immediately excited, her annoyance at not being told sooner quickly eclipsed by being shown the first sonogram. Tom was happy, Rachel and Milton were nearly as thrilled as their kids. Margaret and Shakur were supportive. 

Anne and Ashley had taken the longest to come around, but Anne had finally conceded it was their decision. After one too many snide comments from Ashley had upset Amy, she had finally apologized and admitted she was happy for them.

The first person outside their families who was told was Reverend Stone. After that, Amy had made a courtesy call to Madison and Lauren for old times sake. Predictably the news spread like wildfire from there, further accelerated as the curve of Amy’s stomach became more apparent.

While her morning sickness still persisted as her second trimester was fast approaching, she was still glowing. Ricky had an almost permanent smile fixed on his face. Neither of them were bothered by the whispers behind the backs, too happy to more then joke about them.

At the beginning of March, Amy had just gotten out of the shower when she heard her phone ringing. It had been Ricky’s turn to sleep in so she rushed to grab it so the sound wouldn’t wake him. 

“Hello?”

“Amy!”

The obvious relief in her boss’s voice immediately raised her suspicion. “Is something wrong?”

“Well, yes. There’s been a flu outbreak.”

“A flu outbreak?”

“Yes, about half of the kids at the nursery are sick. I’m so sorry to do this to you, but we’ve decided to close for the day to clean everything.”

“Did you want me to come in to help?”

“No, no! We just wanted to let you know. I’m sorry we can’t take John for the day. Especially an inservice day.”

“No, it’s ok. I understand. Thanks for letting me know.”

She hung up the phone, staring at it hard. She and Ricky both had a full day of classes, and then she had a doctors appointment in the afternoon while Ricky was at work. Her dad and Kathleen were in Italy again, Grace had classes all day. There was no one else that John could be dropped with where he’d feel comfortable.

Sighing, she figured the only option was for her to bring him to class. Ricky stirred behind her and she turned, unable to keep the smile off her face. He looked impossibly fond when he spotted her.

“Hey.”

“Morning. You still have a little while to sleep.”

“Don’t we have to get John to daycare?”

“No, the church nursery is closed. Apparently lots of kids have the flu and they’re doing a deep clean. We’ll have to bring John to school with us.”

“You have a quiz today,” he frowned.

“Not until my second class. I’ll bring him to philosophy with me for the morning, then we'll go to lunch. You can take him to your second class when I have my quiz. Then I’ll bring him to my third class and bring him to the doctors with me after that." 

He rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands, looking a little more awake. “Will the professors allow that?”

“I guess we’ll see.”

“So we can’t drive in together?”

“Um… Grace might be out of class in time to bring you back for work. You should try calling her while I get John dressed.”

He groaned. “Fine.”

Rolling her eyes she headed to John’s room and helped him get dressed. She could hear Ricky padding around the apartment and by the time she stepped back into the living room, he was fresh from his shower. He gave her a kiss good morning before heading to the kitchen.

“Grace will be able to give me a ride, so we can drive in together,” he turned away from the counter. “Do you want to just stop for breakfast? We have time.”

“Why not? I’m starving, and we have to go grocery shopping. I’ll go after my appointment.”

Ricky pouted. “I can’t believe I’m missing it.”

“It’s just a check in so we can talk about the blood test. She’s not telling us the sex until our 20 week ultrasound. And then, you can come and film it the way I did for John.”

“You mean how Ben filmed it,” he grumbled.

She frowned sympathetically. “He’s really getting on your nerves at work, huh?”

“He will not shut up about the fact we didn’t tell him you were pregnant. It’s like when you were in New York and he wouldn’t stop talking about you, except even more annoying. I think he’s trying to guilt me into asking you to call him.”

“Would that help?”

“No, probably not. I don’t think anything will. I’m remembering how to tune him out in conversation again. Don’t worry about it.”

Amy snorted. “I always worry about you.”

He smiled, pressing a kiss to her temple on his way by. “Let’s get going. Come on, John.”

John stood up with his teddy bear under his arm. Ricky grabbed all their bags and opened the door. On her way by, Amy took John’s hand and led him out and down the stairs. 

When they arrived on campus, John was brimming with excitement. He had only ever been on campus a few times and it was generally when he was being handed off between Amy and Ricky, or dropped at Grace’s dorm for an afternoon.

It would be a very long day for him, so they’d packed plenty of snacks and drinks, along with a notebook and crayons since he insisted he’d have to take notes. They also had some coloring sheets, a few picture books, and his teddy bear. Determined to look all grown up, John had told them he couldn’t carry it himself. He had one hand in each of theirs, practically skipping along.

Ricky’s class started a few minutes after Amy’s so they’d decided he would come and help John get settled before leaving the two of them. They got to the lecture hall a little early and Amy led them to the back of the room where she always sat. 

Amy paused before she sat down. “You’re sure you don’t need to go potty?”

Their first classes were both two hours, so it would be a long time sitting still. “I’m sure,” John beamed. “I’m gonna be all grown up.” 

Ricky lifted him onto the chair and pushed him in. Exchanging a smile with her husband, Amy sat down as well. “I better get going,” Ricky kissed the top of both their heads. “See you in a few hours, buddy.”

“Where’re you going?” John turned in his seat.

“Daddy has a different class to go to. You’re going to go help him with his class later on.”

“Oh,” John nodded, holding his hand out suddenly. “Notes please.”

Amy did as she was asked, handing John his notebook and crayons. She looked over her shoulder and Ricky leaned down to kiss her. “Alright, have fun you two.”

He shared one last look with Amy before making his way out, just as other students began filtering in. She had pulled her chair close to her son’s, and began unpacking her things, putting the bags on the chair beside her. No one noticed John was there until others who sat in the back row arrived.

The girl who usually sat in front of AMy greeted her as usual, but a little more awkwardly. “Who’s this?”

John stuck his hand out before Amy could speak. “I’m John! This is my mommy.”

The girl, whose name Amy suddenly couldn’t remember, smiled, taking his hand and shaking gently. “Hi, John. I’m Kylie.”

He looked at her suspiciously. “No you’re not.”

“He has a friend named Kylie,” Amy explained. “She and Kylie at school just have the same name.”

“Ohhhh…” He nodded his understanding, pulling a crayon out of the pack and opening his notebook.

Kylie took her seat in front of them, turning in her seat to continue talking. “What are you drawing?”

“I’m gonna take notes. Mr. Stone is gonna say smart things.”

The class quieted before Kylie had the chance to say anything more, and with a final smile, she turned to face the front of the room. John pointed when he saw the Reverend. “I know him!” His voice was a loud whisper.

“I know you do. We have to be quiet though, remember?”

“Oops,” John’s sheepish face looked exactly like his father’s.

Putting an arm around him she focused up on the front of the class as Reverend Stone began to speak. It was barely fifteen minutes into the lecture before John began to fidget. “Mommy,” he kneeled on his chair to speak directly in her ear.

“What, buddy?”

“Can we go now?”

“Not for a while longer. Do you want your coloring sheets?”

He shook his head. “I’m taking notes.”

“Ok, but you have to sit on your bum.”

Sliding back into his chair, his knees made a loud sound when they hit the table. After checking to be sure he was ok, she turned her attention back to the lecture. He managed to stay quiet for another twenty minutes before his hand shot up and he spoke, practically shouting so he’d be heard.

“Mr. Stone? Can I have a snack please?”

When Reverend Stone looked at the back row, he smiled. “John, I didn’t realize you had joined us. How about you come stand up here with me?”

“I want a snack first.”

“I’m sure your mom has something for you. You can come sit at the desk while you eat.”

John grinned making grabby hands as Amy got him a snack and a juice box. He hurried to the front of the room and sat at the desk. As soon as he’d settled, Reverend Stone continued on as if there had been no interruption.

Amy was able to keep an eye on John sitting right behind him. It wasn’t long before John once again got restless and slid off the seat. Watching him walk up the steps, he scooted past all the other people in the row to get back to Amy. Without a word he got the notebook and his crayons and made his way back down.

She was tempted to go after him to hold his hand, but he made it down the stairs with no problem. As the end of class grew closer he got fidgety again. This time when he got back to her he held his arms up to be picked up and she lifted him onto her lap, reaching around him to reach her notes. He tucked his head under her chin and wrapped a hand in her hair, sitting quietly.

Reaching over she pulled his teddy bear out and handed it to him. He took it without a word, tucking it under his arm. The rest of the class seemed to fly by, and once Reverend Stone dismissed the class he waved to John before leaving.

Amy was still packing up their things when she looked up, surprised to see Ricky bounding up the steps. “Shouldn’t you still be in class?”

“The teacher let us out early. How was class, John?”

“It was fun, Daddy.”

Ricky lifted John off Amy’s lap and gave her hand up. “How’d he do?”

“He did great, he acted very grown up.” Amy gave him a kiss before finishing putting things away. “Did you leave your things up front?”

John nodded, and she ran her hand over his head. “Alright, baby. Let’s go potty and then have lunch. I’m starving.”

Her husband grinned. “You’re always hungry these days.”

She poked him in the arm. “Shut up. I’m having a baby. Besides, the doctor said it wouldn’t hurt to gain some weight.”

His grin took on the same goofy tinge it it so often did since they’d found out she was pregnant. “I know,” he put a hand over the curve of her stomach, “and I think you look gorgeous.”

Amy rolled her eyes. “You’re an idiot.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but you love me.”

“Yeah,” she sighed exaggeratedly, “I really, really do.”


	9. Chapter 9

Ricky blinked his eyes open, trying to figure out what had woken him. He had been up hours later than he’d planned, unable to take his eyes off the newest sonogram. The appointment to find out the baby’s sex had been in the afternoon, and true to her word, Amy had let him film it.

He had only been slightly surprised that he’d cried during it. It had been overwhelming and exciting, and he couldn’t believe he’d gotten to experience it with the mother of his son and the love of his life. Amy had gotten great at spotting any signs of lingering guilt or regret and always made him feel better about not being there for her when she’d been pregnant with John.

Now they were having another boy and he got to be there for her every step of the way.

Rolling over, he reached out for his wife, eyes popping open again when her side of the bed was empty. He sat up and peered into the darkness, but it took him a minute to catch her outline in the kitchen on the counter. The light glinted off her glass as she brought it to her mouth, and she seemed oblivious to the fact that he was awake.

“Amy?” His voice was rough with sleep.

“Go back to sleep, I’ll be back to bed in a bit.”

Instead of listening, he stood up, padding into the kitchen. Coming to a stop in front of her, he put his hands on her knees. She opened her legs so he could fit between them, reaching out to put her hands on his shoulders.

“Where’s your shirt?”

“Probably on the floor where we threw it earlier,” he grinned. 

They were quiet for a few seconds before she finally spoke. “Really, I’m fine, you should go back to sleep.”

“Were you sick again?”

“It’s just so weird, with John, I only had morning sickness for a few months, and it was pretty mild. Now, well…”

He cupped his hands around her stomach. “The doctor said it wasn’t anything to worry about, but I know it must be frustrating.”

Amy sighed softly. “I’m just really tired.”

“Come back to bed. I’ll get up with John, and you can sleep in as long as you want. It’s your day off.”

“But it’s your turn to sleep in.”

“I’m not the one who’s pregnant, going to school full time, working, and being a full time mom.”

“You have more classes than I do, and you work, _and_ you’re a full time dad,” she countered.

Ricky shook his head fondly. “Just let me do this for you. If we’re lucky, John will let both of us sleep in.”

“We can only hope. John has been really good about staying in his room for quiet time in the morning. Or at least just going back to sleep in our bed.”

“He has. I think it was a good idea to tell him he could.”

She tilted her head. “What will we do when the baby is born?”

“We’ll use the bassinet, just like we did with John. If we have to, we’ll figure out a way for John to sleep in the living room again. But if the baby is out here, John should be able to sleep through the night with his door closed. Well, as much as he sleeps through the night now.”

“At least this time around Ben won’t be there to object to you taking care of our baby.”

“Huh,” he shook his head. “I forgot he did that. Was that when he came looking for sex when John was only a few months old?”

“Yes, and you tried to bait him by offering to sleep in the chair in my room.”

He smirked. “You took me up on that offer eventually. Not that he ever knew. Ben was a real creep, you know that?”

“I know that now at least. But I was fifteen, and pregnant, and I wanted someone to save me. I thought he loved me, and I thought I might love him.”

“Did you?”

Amy shrugged. “In a way. I think that I almost felt like I owed him for sticking by me. And a little part of me thought no one else would love me after everything. But only until I went away and I realized I was strong, and I could save myself.”

“I suppose you should thank me for letting you go to that program in New York then.”

“Ricky!” She shoved his shoulder, smile evident in her voice.

“I think _I_ should thank me for letting you go to New York. It was absolutely miserable for me without you here.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “And you want to thank yourself for that?” 

“It was the first time I’d gone days without seeing you when we were actually friends. We were working like partners, and then suddenly… you were gone. It was even scarier than what I felt for you at bandcamp.”

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, he sighed softly as he tried to gather his thoughts. The light from the window was just enough to see her face, but he was grateful for the dark cloaking them. “The visit in New York was really the time where I realized I didn’t just love you, I was half _in_ love with you.”

“Which is why you got so defensive when I got home.”

“You were right, the minute either of us showed interest in each other, I was tempted to run.”

“But you didn’t.”

He shrugged. “Technically I did. It’s just that once you got home, and you were here… I didn’t want to run anymore.”

“Well, you tried a couple times even after that,” her voice was light.

“If I wanted, I could have tried a lot harder, but I never wanted to.” He leaned forward, pressing a lingering kiss just above her brow. “I’m glad you realized you could save yourself. But, I’m also glad you let me save you once in a while.”

“Me too.” She cupped her hands around his face and kissed the tip of his nose. “You should go back to bed.”

Warmth swelled up in his chest and he shook his head. “Only if you come too.”

She sighed exaggeratedly. “Fine, you won me over.”

Ricky grinned. “I always do.”

Ricky arrived home one night with a grumpy John in tow. Monday was the only day that he didn’t see Amy at some point besides when he came home, and he hated them. As soon as he’d opened the door, John was off like a rocket.

“John… come get your bear please.”

“Shhh!” John pressed his finger over his lips, gesturing wildly at the couch.

Following his son’s gaze, Ricky softened when he saw Amy sleeping there. “Sorry. You still need to get your bear though,” he whispered.

John nodded, tiptoeing carefully across the floor as if even footsteps might wake his mother. He took the bear as Ricky passed by to the kitchen. It wasn’t a surprise that when he turned around, John was trying to wriggle his way onto the couch with Amy. 

“Hey, let your mom sleep. How about you come get ready for dinner?”

“I wanna be with mommy,” John pouted.

Ricky knew his son well enough to know that he was on the verge of a temper tantrum so he nodded wordlessly and started unpacking their dinner. It was only once the table was set that he realized John was humming the lullaby that Amy always used to get him to sleep. 

It was one of those moments that reminded him of how lucky he was. He wasn’t sure where he’d be if he had never met Amy, or what kind of person he’d be if they hadn’t had John. It wasn’t a path he liked to go down, but despite everything, sometimes he felt as if he didn’t deserve them.

Before he could ask John to come eat dinner Amy stirred on the couch. She went to stretch but paused as soon as her foot bumped into their son. Blinking her eyes open, she smiled. “Where’s your dad?”

“Right here.”

Craning to look over her shoulder, the smile she shot him was so soft it stopped all his doubts in their tracks. At least for the moment. 

“Did you get dinner?”

“Chinese. Moo shu pork and lo mein just like you wanted this morning.”

“You’re the best,” she was slow to sit up, mindful of John. “I’m starving.”

“How were you feeling today? You didn’t call or stop in at all. I was a bit worried.”

“I’m sorry,” she sighed, “I was going to come see you, but I saw that Ben was working. I know I’ll bump into him eventually, but I’m hoping my luck will last a little longer. He’s going to try and make me feel guilty for not telling him myself.”

“Will you?” He couldn’t keep the genuine curiosity out of his voice.

She made a face. “No. He’s not a part of my life anymore… at least not a part that I care about.”

“Well, I hope by some miracle you don’t bump into him then, at least until you’re ready.”

Amy snorted. “I’m ready, I just don’t want to see him. For someone who was so adamant that Adrian shouldn’t be upset when she was pregnant, he seems perfectly ok with upsetting me while I am.”

She went to stand up, pouting when he had to come over to help her. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, keeping a hold of her hand. “I could talk to him and tell him to leave you alone.”

Cupping his cheek, she shook her head. “Thank you, but no. Despite the fact that I can’t always stand up from a couch on my own, I can still take care of myself. Besides if you do, he’s going to go back to asking your permission to talk to me which makes you nuts.”

“Of course it does! You’re not my property.”

She smiled wryly. “And if you ever start to think I am, I’ll kick you.”

He grinned, tension easing. “I’d expect you to.”

Amy was walking on campus one afternoon, already exhausted. Her five month mark was coming up in a few weeks, and she’d had midterms four days this week. It was a relief that it was Friday, but she still had work all afternoon. She had picked up an extra few hours, wanting to make as much money as she could before she’d be on maternity leave.

She was headed to the dining hall to pick up a snack before she left campus. Since she was going in earlier than usual, Ricky was picking up John from preschool and dropping him at the nursery. Preoccupied with her thoughts, she didn’t notice Ben approaching until he was only a few feet away.

“Ben?”

“Amy, I haven’t see you since Halloween, I don’t think,” his eyes were sharp as he studied her. “How are you?”

She resisted the urge to grit her teeth at his tone. “Good, I’m good. How are you?”

“Oh, fine. You know I found out you were pregnant from Adrian?”

“Uh, no, I didn’t.”

“I would have thought you or Ricky would have told me.”

“Ben, no offense, but we had no reason to tell you.”

“You live in our family’s apartment!”

She raised an eyebrow. “Which is why we told Leo.”

“You told my father, but not me?”

“We told all the people we wanted to tell,” she shrugged.

“You know Ricky is the one who told Adrian?”

It was said in a way that made it clear he thought he was viciously delivering news she didn’t know. “I know.”

He blinked at her in surprise. “And it doesn’t bother you that he still talks to Adrian?”

“I don’t see why it would.”

“He loved Adrian.”

She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. “And now he loves me.”

“You can’t seriously believe that,” he scoffed.

“If he doesn’t, he’s playing a very elaborate prank, considering he married me.” Anticipating that he was only looking to make their conversation an argument, she looked at her watch. “Listen, I have to go. I’m expected at work soon.”

She slipped past him and continued on her way. After she got her snack she was leaving the building when she bumped into someone. The last person she was expecting to see was Adrian. It figured that the day she’d run into the both of them was the day Ricky wasn’t around.

“Amy?” She looked down. “You’re… definitely having a baby.”

Amy’s eyes widened. “Am I?”

Adrian did not look impressed, stepping out of the way to get out of the doorway. “Have you seen Ricky around?”

“No, sorry. He didn’t have to come in today.”

“Doesn’t he have classes on Friday?”

“Yeah, he does. But his professor let him take the midterm early so he could work in the morning.” 

“Can you let him know I was looking for him? He hasn’t answered my calls.”

She smiled. “Sure, I can let him know. I have to get going though, I have work. I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, I guess.” 

Amy shook her head as she watched Adrian leave, walking to the parking lot. She took the time to eat and text Ricky that Adrian had been looking for him before she started the car and drove away.

When Amy arrived home with John, she was a little surprised to see that Ricky’s car wasn’t parked where it usually was. He had never answered her text from earlier, and it had been Margaret who had ended up dropping off John and told her Ricky had been stuck at work.

Humming as she set their things down, John ran to the table and sat down where his coloring book was still set out. “What do you think we should have for dinner?”

“Daddy says you and the baby choose.”

She snorted. “Does he? Well, then I guess we’ll have his favorite tonight.”

His face lit up. “Noodles!”

“Yes, with the sauce you two like best.”

She flipped on the radio and got to work. Halfway through cooking, Ricky still hadn’t called and she was getting a little worried. As the water boiled, she grabbed her phone and hit the first speed dial. There was no answer but she didn’t bother to leave a message, just frowning hard at the spaghetti on the counter.

It wasn’t until dinner was almost ready that the front door opened and Ricky walked in looking tired. “You could have called to tell me you’d be late.” She settled on feeling annoyed so she wouldn’t get ahead of herself with worry.

He dumped his bag by the door. “I’m sorry, I just had something to do.” Walking into the kitchen to give her a kiss he peaked over her shoulder. “Spaghetti?”

“Well, according to John, the baby and I choose what we eat, and this is what we chose.”

Looking over at John, he shook his head in amusement. “That was a secret, buddy.”

John ducked his head, looking sheepish. “I forgot.”

“It’s ok. Do I have time to grab a shower before we eat?”

“Yeah, you have a few minutes.” She turned to study his face. “You’re ok?”

He took her face in hand, brushing his lips over her cheek. “I’m fine.”

When she was relatively sure he was telling the truth she nodded, watching him walk to the bathroom. She had made broccoli the way John liked it to go with their pasta, pulling it out of the oven when it beeped. After she had set out dinner and Ricky had appeared, they all sat down to eat.

The rest of the evening went fairly quickly. John who had been going through waves of not wanting to nap had decided not to that afternoon, so he was ready to go to bed a full hour early. Ricky was the one to put him down, giving Amy the chance to shower.

When she emerged from the bathroom, he was sitting on the couch with one of his textbooks, smiling when he saw her in his sweatshirt. “Hey,” his voice was soft.

“Hey.”

She walked over and sat beside him, pulling her legs up under her. Pulling in a breath when the baby gave a particularly hard kick, she watched as Ricky began to rub her stomach without being asked. 

“Has he been very active today?”

“Well, he didn’t like the final, and he hated when I saw Ben and Adrian even more. Or maybe he just thinks he’s a soccer player.”

“Ben mentioned he’d bumped into you at school.”

“Yeah, and then ten minutes later I saw Adrian. Did you ever check your phone? She was looking for you.”

He shrugged. “She’s called a few times,” he grinned when the baby gave another kick. “I don’t like it any better than you do.”

She rolled her eyes. “So where were you?”

“I made an appointment with Dr. Fields. I guess Ben figured if he couldn’t rile you up, he’d get me, so Bunny suggested I take off early. I was going to just go visit with my parents, but I wanted to just talk it out.”

“Did he say bad stuff?”

“Dr. Fields? No, of course not.” She leveled him with a look, and he sighed. “Unfortunately, Ben and I really know each other’s weak spots, so he knows exactly what to say to piss me off.”

“I get it, he seemed mad when things that might have gotten me in high school didn’t when he caught me.”

He propped his head on one hand, adjusting so he could face her. The baby had calmed, but he still rubbed circles on her stomach. “How though? Why don’t the things that would have upset you then upset you now?”

She shrugged. “Because I know you, and I know me. So, if Ben tries to make me feel like you don’t love me, it’s jarring, but it doesn’t sink in and get stuck in my head like it used to.”

“I wish I could do that.”

“What kinds of things does he say to make you mad?”

Ricky was quiet for a long moment. “Mostly he says that I’ll hurt you, or disappoint you in some way.”

“I disappoint you sometimes and you still love me. And I’ve done things that hurt you too. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have a strong relationship, it means that we’re not perfect.”

“I think you’re pretty perfect,” he smiled charmingly.

Amy blushed, averting her eyes. “We both know I’m not perfect.”

He shrugged, brushing the hair off her forehead. “Fine, but there’s no one I’d rather be imperfect with.”

Her smile was blinding when she looked back at him. “We’re best when we’re imperfect together.”

Leaning in to give her a kiss, he leaned his forehead against hers. “Yes we are.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Grace, you’re a life saver,” Ricky sighed in relief as he took the tupperware container from her hands.

“It’s the least I can do when my pregnant sister calls sobbing for my cookies.”

“And a burger from the Dairy Shack, and a milkshake. It was an emergency.”

“You look tired,” she tilted her head, “but really, really happy.”

He grinned. “I am. I’m really happy. This is all the stuff I missed when she was pregnant with John. She could send me out for a burger from the Dairy Shack every night and I would still be happy.”

“Good, because that’s my nephew she’s carrying… If she wants him to be anyway.”

“Why wouldn’t she? Your John’s aunt. Besides, she was crying for an hour last week trying to figure out if you’d want to be the babies godmother.”

“You guys aren’t even religious!”

“It would be kind of unofficial, but I think she wants to do it because you are.”

Grace smiled brightly. “That’s… really nice. Honestly, I’m really glad my mom married George. It really gave us a chance to get closer.”

“Well, that and the fact you and Adrian stopped hanging out so much.”

“How you and Amy can be nice to Adrian after all she did to you two in high school, I will never understand,” she shook her head.

He shrugged. “It’s what Amy wants. And when she gets an idea in her head…”

She chuckled. “Yeah, she is pretty stubborn, isn’t she?”

“It’s what made it possible for her to have John and stay in school and work. It’s one of my favorite things about her.”

“Yeah, me too,” she shook her head fondly. “You better go get that burger. Amy is also impatient.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Thanks again. We’ll see you tomorrow for dinner.”

“Ugh, I can’t wait! I haven’t seen Amy or John in weeks.”

“Well, if I don’t get home with the food, you’ll probably never see me again.” He smiled wryly and opened the back door, walking down the driveway, hearing Grace’s laugh behind him.

By the time he got home, Amy was curled up in bed with her textbook. Finals were only a week away, and on top of being nearly six months pregnant, it had left her feeling a little overwhelmed.

When she spotted him, her face lit up. “Did you get my burger?”

“Cheeseburger, ketchup, and extra pickles, fries, one strawberry milkshake, and two dozen of the cookies Grace made at Christmas.”

She made grabby hands and he handed her the bag and milkshake, setting the cookies on the bed. Unwrapping the burger she took a bite, sighing happily. “Thank you for going out for me.”

“Grace is the one who just whipped up a batch of cookies at ten at night. Pretty sure you should be thanking her.”

“I will when I see her tomorrow.”

“You mean tonight. It’s almost one.”

“Oh,” she frowned. “I can go to the kitchen so you can go to bed.”

He shook his head. “No, that’s ok. I’ll get you some tums and do some studying while I wait for you.” He frowned slightly. “You haven’t been sleeping well, have you?”

She had such a deer in the headlights look, he knew he’d gotten it right. “So which of our babies are keeping you up?”

“Both. I never sleep very deeply with the baby so much, and then John wakes up and gets in bed with us and wakes me up the rest of the way. Then I have to try and get comfortable to get back to sleep all over again, and the baby kicks and…” She let her voice trail off, dipping a few fries in her milkshake.

“I wish you’d told me. John and I can go stay with your dad or my parents for a few days.”

“No!” She cleared her throat. “I mean, I can’t sleep without you here.”

“Really?”

Amy glared at him half heartedly. “You don’t have to sound so smug about it.”

He hid a smile. “Sorry, sorry. But… it’s not very often that you actually need me.”

Making a face, she shook her head. “Have you not been paying attention the last four years?”

“We haven’t been together four years.”

“I think the point just went right over you head,” she rolled her eyes and took another bite of her burger.

It took him a moment to realize what she was saying, and once he had, he couldn’t stop staring at her, a goofy smile on his face. “Really?”

“If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to cry,” she paused before peaking up at him, “but yes, really.”

“Oh,” his voice was soft. “Oh.”

She scowled at him. “Seriously, you’re going to make me cry.”

He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Ok, ok, I’ll just grab you those tums.”

Ricky was waiting outside the classroom where Amy was taking her last final. She’d woken up sick several times the night before, but had insisted that she could get through the final. He had worked himself up and was pacing around to try to burn some of his nervous energy.

Turning when he heard the door to the class open, he watched in concern as someone came flying out. Something told him it was Amy, confirmed when the professor came out after her. When she spotted Ricky, she smiled.

“You’re the husband, right?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“I’m impressed with your wife. Got through her whole exam before she had to run out. I grabbed her things to bring to her, but I’ll give them to you.”

He smiled in relief. “Thanks, I really appreciate it.”

“Congratulations on the baby by the way. Tell Amy to email me when she gets a chance. I’ll mail her final paper and exam back to her.”

“I will,” he took Amy’s bag and books, “I should go find her. Have a good summer.”

The older woman beamed. “You too.”

Tucking the books into his own bag he put Amy’s purse over his shoulder and walked towards the bathrooms. He could hear the sounds of groaning from the unisex bathroom, and he knocked lightly. “Amy, can I come in?”

There was a long pause before she answered. “Yeah, come on in.”

Stepping through the door he closed and locked it behind him. She was kneeling on the floor by the toilet, elbow on the wall and head propped in her hand. “I told you I could get through my last final,” she smiled weakly.

“I should have known not to underestimate you,” he shook his head and grinned. “Here,” he pulled the water bottle from her purse and handed it to her.

“Thanks,” she took it, taking a sip and swishing it before spitting into the toilet.

“Do you think you can get up and get to the car?”

“As long as we have a garbage bag,” she sighed. “Well, at least I can say I had a memorable end to my freshmen year.”

“I guess so.” He gave her a hand up, digging some gum out as she washed her hands. She splashed her face with cold water and used some paper towels to dry off. 

Taking the stick of gum, she leaned back on the sink. “I think it’s the heat. The air conditioning in the room was broken.”

“Well, whatever it is, I hope it goes away soon. You’re nearly six months pregnant.”

Looking down at the curve of her stomach, she bit back a smile. “You noticed that too?”

“Yeah, I did.” Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he smiled. “Come on, let’s go.”

Ricky had been at work when Grace called, telling him she needed to speak to him urgently. As soon as he got out he drove to her house, waiting until he was waved in to walk into the garage. “Ok, ok, what’s the emergency?”

“Amy’s baby shower.”

He blinked at her, trying to decide whether he had heard her right. “Amy’s… baby shower?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Yes! When she had John, we did not pull together a good baby shower. Then for Adrian, Amy and I worked so hard to make it a nice party. Amy deserves something at least that nice, probably better.”

“Ok, and why are you telling me this?”

“Because Amy hasn’t let us throw her any kind of party since after you two got married. Even the Halloween party was only because it was for lots of kids, even though we did it because she loves Halloween.”

“I still don’t understand what you want me to do. Or how this is an emergency.”

“Don’t you want your wife to have an awesome baby shower?”

He sighed. “Yes, of course I do. But she’s given no indication that she wants a baby shower. For her birthday the closest we came to a party was you coming over for cake.”

“Yes, but this is different. Really, it’s a party for the baby.”

Raising an eyebrow incredulously, she huffed out a breath. “Fine, it’s not. But she was always a little sad she missed that first one when she went into labor… even though it was lame.”

“Ok, so throw her a baby shower.”

Her glare was withering. “I’m going to. But I need help.”

“What kind of help?”

“Well to start, you can tell me what you and Amy actually need for the baby.”

“Amy and I are going through the boxes this weekend. Probably not much.”

Grace’s face lit up. “So, we’d have an excuse to get Amy gifts!”

“I guess… Why are you so adamant about this?”

“Because Amy, despite everything, does nice things for other people all the time. Including me, a lot of the time. I want to do something nice for her. As her sister.”

“Step sister,” he corrected.

She waved as if to shoo the words away. “Whatever you want to call it. I want to do something to show her how much I appreciate her. And she’ll be much less annoyed by this then throwing a belated birthday party.”

“So, you’re going to annoy her so you can do something nice?” He shook his head in amusement. “Ok, I’ll help any way I can. After we go through everything, I’ll let you know what we’ll need. But diapers and bibs are a definite need.”

“Gotcha. My mom and I will start planning. But you should check our ideas, you know Amy best.”

He smiled softly. “I’d like to think so.”

“Oh, I know so. And this is the perfect time to do it, lots of her friends from high school are home for the summer.”

“Alright, so I’ll call you this weekend. But I better get home before she and John start wondering where I went. Bye, Grace.”

She waved as he walked out the door. “Bye!” 


	11. Chapter 11

Ricky came to a stop at the red light, smiling in amusement as he looked in the rearview mirror. Amy was nodding along with what Grace was saying with John practically bouncing out of his seat. Grace’s method to lure Amy to the party had been the pretense of a family lunch.

Just a week after Grace had proposed the idea of a baby shower, Amy had admitted she knew. Her father hadn’t been aware that it had been a secret and told her without thinking. Knowing how excited Grace had been to throw it, Amy hadn’t let on that she knew.

Since he’d found out Amy knew about the shower, he’d run Grace’s ideas past Amy herself so they could get it right. Grace had definitely been right when she’d said that Amy deserved a good shower. 

He pulled into the driveway of George’s house and cut the engine. Grace practically leapt from the car. “I’ll bring John in.” Amy had gotten to the waddling stage of her pregnancy, so Ricky hung back to help her in. 

His phone chimed so he paused and she tilted her head when he snorted. “What?”

“Adrian. Apparently she heard your shower was today.

“And she wants to come?”

“No, she wants to know what I’m doing while you’re there.”

“Tell her you’re here. Invite her if she wants to see you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yup, now let's go inside before Grace comes out looking for us.”

She walked ahead of him, and he stared after her. “I don’t have any devious plans, stop looking at me like that.” 

He could hear the smile in her voice. “You can’t even see me.”

“I don’t have to.” She got to the door and put her hand on the knob so he jogged to catch up.

When the door opened, no one jumped out and yelled ‘surprise’ but Grace was standing in the hall waiting for them. “Welcome to your baby shower!”

Amy, who had been fully expecting it, still burst into tears the moment she saw all the people milling about. “Oh, Amy, I didn’t know you’d be this upset, don’t cry,” Grace pulled her into a hug.

“No, no, I’m happy,” she pulled away, trying to wipe the tears off her face.

“I was afraid you might be mad. You’re not mad, are you?

Amy’s smile was a little wobbly. “No, of course I’m not mad! This is so sweet. Ugh,” she fanned her face.

Ricky rubbed her back, and they gave her plenty of time to gather herself. George sauntered up with John in his arms, frowning when he saw the tears on Amy’s cheeks. “Pregnant tears or real tears?”

Amy wiped her cheeks again. “Both, but happy tears.”

Passing John to Ricky, he gave his daughter a hug. “Good. We made all your favorites and ordered Chinese food, Grace and Kathleen set up games, and we have loads of gifts. And those girls you hung out with in high school are around here somewhere.”

“Madison and Lauren?”

“Yeah, I invited as many of your friends as I could. I wanted to give you the best shower.”

Glaring at her step sister halfheartedly, Amy continued to fan her face. “You’re going to make me cry again.”

Grace pulled her into a hug. “Sorry, sorry. Here, let’s get you some food.”

Ricky’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out, putting a hand on his wife’s arm to stop her. “Adrian’s coming over.”

“Ok,” Amy stopped to give him a kiss. “I’m going to go see everyone. John, do you want to come?”

“Will you carry me?”

She put her hands on her stomach. “I’m sorry, baby, I can’t. When I sit down, you can sit on my lap, promise.”

“In the mean time, I can hold you. We’ll see mommy in a little while.”

John pouted but nodded, laying his head on Ricky’s shoulder. Amy leaned over to give them each a kiss on the cheek, wiping away the lipstick with her thumb. “Alright, I’ll be back soon. Stay out of trouble you two.”

“I don’t think I realized how many people I know.” Amy laid back on the bed, lacing her fingers over her stomach as she stared at the ceiling.

“Our everyday circle is pretty small, but you have lots of friends, even if you don’t realize it.” Ricky crouched down to unzip her boots.

She propped herself up on her elbows, glaring over her baby bump. “I can take off my own shoes.”

He raised an eyebrow and she pouted, flopping back onto the bed. “You’re enjoying this way too much.” 

“Taking care of my pregnant wife?” The grin was evident in his voice as he sat beside her, leaning over to press a kiss to her stomach. 

Trying to fight back a smile, she looked over at him. “He loves your voice.”

“Does he?”

She took his hand, pressing it over her stomach so he could feel how much the baby was moving. Rubbing circles over the swell, he studied her face. “You tired?”

“A little. It was so nice of Grace to throw me a party. I’m glad she did.”

He raised an eyebrow. “But?”

“But I’m very pregnant and I’m tired and aside from Halloween parties, I don’t like parties.”

“Liar, you just don’t like parties where you’re the focus.”

She shook her head, staying quiet. It had been nice to see so many people at the baby shower, and she was glad Grace had held it so early so she wouldn’t have a repeat of the last one. Overall, she was also glad it was over. She much preferred to spend her time with Ricky and John and her immediate family.

Since school had gotten out, almost all her time had been spent with John and Ricky or Grace and John or all three together. Grace was nearly as excited about the baby as she and Ricky. Kathleen and George were leaving to Italy with Robbie in a few days to go see Anne and Ashley again. They’d be gone for a few months this time and she was sure Grace would be hanging out even more.

“Hello?” Ricky waved his hand in front of her face before standing up.

“Oh, sorry,” she took a deep breath. “Help me up.”

“You sure? I thought I was annoying you with how much I help you.”

Amy scowled. “Don’t be a jerk.”

Grinning, he did as she asked, pulling her up from the bed. “Sometimes I just can’t resist.”

She rolled her eyes. “Real nice, messing with the mother of your children.”

Ricky laughed. “You’re right, you’re right.” He gave her a kiss. “Would it help if I said I loved you?”

“Hmm…” She hummed thoughtfully. “Only if you get me a popsicle while you say it.”


	12. Chapter 12

A few weeks later, Ricky was driving Amy crazy. He was sweet and attentive to the point of annoyance. Just as she was growing completely sick of him, Leo told him he’d signed him up for a business seminar a few hours away. While a little sad he’d be gone a few days, she was mostly relieved.

“Are you sure you’ll be ok?”

She glared at him. “Everything will be fine. Grace will be here in the morning, and John is already asleep. Please, I’m begging you, just go. Have a good time, I’ll see you the day after tomorrow,” she all but pushed him to the door.

“Ok, ok,” he grinned, turning back to face her. “I get the message.” Leaning down to give her a kiss, he studied her face. “Call me if there’s any problems.”

“I will, I promise. Drive safe, call me when you get there. I love you,” she gave him another kiss, “now please leave.”

After she’d opened the door he hesitated a brief moment before leaving. As soon as the door was shut behind him she sagged against it, breathing out a sigh of relief. She felt a little bad since Ricky had been handling all her moods like a saint, but there was only so much coddling she could take.

The apartment was completely silent, and she went to peak in on John. He had worn himself out at the park before Leo had called about the seminar. He had signed Ricky up last minute, and had forgotten to call him earlier. Since Ricky would have to drive down at night, he would have understood if he chose not to go.

Amy had encouraged him to go. He’d given no indication he’d needed space from her and John since she’d gotten pregnant, but she was also fairly certain he wouldn’t tell her so far along in her pregnancy. Either way, it was a nice way for her to get some space and a good opportunity for him. He excelled in his classes at school, but he was always trying to get ahead. If she hadn’t been pregnant, he would’ve taken summer classes for a second year in a row.

After a few hours of reading, she had just sat down with a snack when the baby gave her a particularly hard kick. “Hey,” she glared down at her stomach. “That’s not very nice.”

Her phone rang and she answered without looking. “Hello?”

“Hey, I wanted to let you know I got to the hotel alright,” Ricky sounded tired. “How are things at home?”

“Quiet. The baby’s quite active tonight.”

“Are you sure you’re alright for a few days? I could…”

“Ricky,” she interrupted gently, “I’ll be fine, I promise. Grace is coming to help watch John in the morning. Oh,” she sucked in a breath as she felt another small contraction. In the last few weeks she’d been feeling quite a few.

“That’s it, I’m coming back.”

She heard the clink of keys. “It’s nothing, just a tiny contraction. The doctor said it was totally normal. Stay there and have a good time. All you’ve been doing lately is taking care of me and John and going to work. I know for a fact you’re excited to be there.”

He was silent before he sighed stubbornly. “Fine. But couldn’t you come stay with me here?”

“And leave Grace alone? You know she hates staying at the house when our parents aren’t there.”

“So bring her too.”

She groaned. “Ricky, you’re my husband, and I love you more than almost anything… but you are driving me _insane_. And not in a good way.”

Ricky huffed out a laugh. “Ok, ok. So I guess you didn’t just encourage me to come here because I wanted to go?”

“Well, no. But I really do want you to go and have a good time. The baby is coming soon, so you it’s probably the last time you can do something like that for a while. Not that John, the baby, and I won’t give you space whenever you need it.”

“You are the best partner in the world.”

She shook her head in amusement. “With all you do for me, I wouldn’t want to look bad in comparison”

“God, I love you,” he yawned. “I should get some sleep. I have to be up early.”

“I love you too. I’ll talk to you tomorrow night. Sleep well.”

“You too. And you’ll…”

“I’ll let you know if anything happens I swear. Good night.”

“Night, gorgeous.”

Amy hung up the phone smiling softly. She looked at it for a few more moments before setting it aside and finishing her snack. After a shower, she got dressed in her pajamas and laid in bed. Despite how tired she was she found it hard to get to sleep. 

She was still awake when John slid into bed with her a few hours later. He didn’t seem to realize she was awake, putting a hand on her stomach for a moment. “Good night, baby,” he whispered loudly.

Her eyes welled with tears but she didn’t say anything. As soon as his breathing had evened out she allowed herself to close her eyes, quickly drifting off to sleep.

Grace hung up the phone, frowning. “He still won’t pick up.”

Amy’s face scrunched up as another contraction hit. “Ow,” she took a deep breath like she’d learned in the birthing class. At least she and Ricky had been smart enough to go early on this time around.

“Well, he has a while. The doctor’s trying to delay things. By the way, where did you bring John?”

“Well, my mom and your dad are out of town, so I called Margaret and she didn’t pick up, so I called Shakur, and he was stuck at work, so I dropped John at the nursery and Shakur or Margaret will pick him up tonight. But, since you asked me not to, I didn’t tell them why. I just said you were overwhelmed and needed a little break so we were going to have a girls night.”

Amy winced again so Grace offered her hand. “Bet you don’t think it’s so stupid that I went to those classes too.”

Letting out a strangled laugh, Amy tried to breathe through it. “No, it was still very stupid.”

Grace huffed indignantly. “Alright, well, I’ll still let you hold my hand until Ricky gets here. And I’ll dial with my other hand. He’ll pick up eventually.”

“He better,” Amy felt a spike of panic. “What if he doesn’t get here in time?”

She smiled reassuringly. “The doctor said it’s going to be a while, and he’s only a few hours away. He’ll be here.”

Ricky had been annoyed when at the beginning of the seminar he’d had to turn off his phone. The whole three hours he’d been fidgeting, wanting to check his phone every five minutes just like he had all day. He had just turned it on to see he had messages and a voicemail when it rang.

Frowning when he saw Grace’s name, he picked up. “Hello?”

“Ricky, oh thank god! Where have you been!?”

“I had to turn my phone off for one of the things. What’s going on? Is everything ok?”

“Well, yes and no.”

His hand tightened on the phone. “Grace, tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Amy went into labor,” she rushed to finish before he could cut her off. “She and the baby are fine, but she really needs you here.”

“She can’t be in labor, she’s not due for nearly six weeks!”

“The doctor delayed it, hopefully for a few days, but she’s definitely having a baby.” 

He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. “Ok, ok, I’m on my way. Let me talk to her.”

Grace sighed. “She’s sleeping, but I’ll tell her you’re coming when she wakes up. And drive safe, please.”

She hung up before he could answer, and he rushed up to his room. Suddenly he was very relieved that he never unpacked anything but the framed photo of Amy and John he brought anytime he was away from home. When he went to grab it he paused when he saw their smiling faces. She’d been laughing when he had snapped the photo and it was one of his favorites of her. 

Shaking himself out of it, he took the time to get his bag of toiletries out of the bathroom and hurried out. There was a line when he got to the front desk, and he barely retrained the urge to tap his foot. It was a relief when he finally got to the front.

The drive back seemed torturously slow and he tried not to spiral into worry. The doctor had mentioned that the baby might come early, but he had never thought it might be _this soon_. John had been born two weeks early, but six weeks was a totally different thing.

He had been gone for less than twenty four hours and Amy had gone into labor. After she had promised nothing would happen. He nearly laughed at that, so worried that he was on the verge of hysterics.

When he got to the hospital he still wasn’t sure if he was going to burst into tears or start laughing. He had just walked into the waiting room when he spotted Grace. “Grace!”

“Ricky, hey! How are you?”

“Amy went into labor six weeks before she's due, after convincing me to go away for the weekend. How do you think I’m doing?”

She nodded. “Fair. She’s sleeping again. I just came out here to get some coffee and call your parents to check on John. He’s asleep, obviously. Amy asked me not to tell them what was going on. But you should get in there, Amy really wants to see you.”

He smiled in relief. “Ok, you should get home and get some sleep. I’ll call you if things change.”

She gave him a hug. “I’ll come by in the morning either way. Tell her I said good night.”

He nodded and turned towards the nurse’s desk. After being directed to Amy’s room he walked through the halls. It was relatively quiet, and as he went into the room, he softened immediately.

Amy was asleep, the steady rise and fall of her chest easing some of his concern. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he brushed the hair off her face, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

She stirred as he straightened, blinking her eyes open. Her face lit up when she saw him. “Hey, you’re here.”

“And you promised nothing was going to happen if I went away.”

She stretched smiling sleepily. “I wasn’t exactly expecting the baby to try and come six weeks early.”

“What did the doctor say?”

“Everything is looking good, the baby is healthy and so am I. But she can only delay things a few days. He’s insistent.”

She scooted over and pat the bed beside her. Climbing in next to her, he put an arm around her right away. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m ok. The contractions have slowed down for the moment.”

“Do you need anything? Are you hungry?”

“No, the doctor said I could eat a burger so Grace got me one from the Dairy Shack.”

“What is it with you and that place? You wanted a burger last time you were in labor too and you’ve wanted them the whole time you’ve been pregnant.”

She shrugged. “Our babies like them.”


	13. Chapter 13

“We could name him Ben,” Ricky smirked, “or Adrian.”

Amy glared. “I just spent twenty two hours in labor, having your baby. Do you really want to mess with me?”

He gave her a kiss. “You’re right, you’re right. We only have a few minutes before Grace won’t be able to keep this to herself. What about… Micah?”

She looked down at where their son was laid on her chest. “I like it.” She smiled softly. “Hey, Micah.”

Grace somehow managed to burst into the room quietly. “Please tell me I can tell everyone now.”

Ricky rolled his eyes, voice low. “Yes, Grace, go ahead.”

“And his name?”

“Micah.”

She whipped out her phone. “I’m taking a photo to send everyone.”

“Grace....” When Amy saw her pout, she sighed. “Fine, take the picture.”

Suppressing her grin, she snapped the photo, turning the phone so Ricky could see. “Make sure you send that to me.”

Looking down at the phone, Grace nodded. “Mhm, got it.” She left the room and only a minute passed before Ricky’s phone chimed.

He sighed softly as he read the message. “At least everyone in Italy is asleep. I won’t have to field any angry phone calls for a while.”

“I didn’t even think of that,” Amy looked down at Micah. “It’s just… it seemed better to wait.”

He pressed a kiss to her temple. “The doctor said everything is ok. Micah didn’t even need more than an hour on the ventilator. He’s already had his first feeding. He doesn’t even have to stay in the hospital more than a few days.”

“I know, I know…” Her eyes welled with tears. “But I was so scared.” 

He sat on the edge of the bed. “Everything is ok now.”

She pulled in a shaky breath and nodded. Micah stirred and within seconds he was wailing. Amy still looked on the verge of tears, so Ricky took him from her, holding their son against his chest. As soon as Micah’s cries slowed he passed him back so Amy could feed him again.

A nurse came in to check on them at the same time Ricky’s phone rang, so he reluctantly excused himself “Hello?”

“Amy had the baby?”

He could hear the combination of worry and annoyance in his mother’s voice. “Yes, but she and the baby are fine. We didn’t want to say anything in case…”

“Oh,” Margaret sighed. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” he took a deep breath. “He’s a little small, and he needed a little time on the ventilator, but he’s eating and we’ve been able to hold him.” 

He tried to let go of his lingering doubts, but he was still worried. He had seen how scared Amy was while she was in labor, no matter how much she’d tried to hide it. To most anyone else it had probably seemed Amy was calm and collected despite everything. But he’d known. And there hadn’t been a thing he could do about it. 

Shaking his head to try and will those thoughts away, he stared at the wall opposite him. “How’s John?”

“He’s good, a little grumpy. Grace’s visit this morning put him in a better mood for a bit. He knew you were going away for a few days, but you know how he is when he’s away from Amy when he doesn’t want to be.”

He chuckled. “The exact same way his daddy is.”

“Exactly.” Margaret sounded fond. “Are you and Amy up for visitors? We’d like to see you and the baby.”

“You should come by. Amy doesn’t really want Micah seeing too many people, at least until they’re discharged, but I can ask. Would you be able to keep John another night? Amy told me I should go home with him, but I don’t want to leave her.”

“Of course we can take John another night! We’ll come so John can see you and Amy, and the baby if you two decide it’s alright. Shakur and I… we can wait until Amy is ready. We will do whatever is best.”

“I mean, she’s let Grace in to see him… But I think that’s because Grace was here with her when I wasn’t.”

“You don’t have to explain to me, sweetheart. You and Amy just do what you think is best. And Ricky?”

“Yeah?”

“Keep an eye on your wife. Amy is strong, but she has a tendency to bottle things up to prove it.”

“I know, and I will. I’ll see you in a little while.”

Hanging up, he pressed his eyes shut for a moment. Amy was happy. He knew she was as happy as he was that they’d brought a healthy baby boy into the world, and into their family. But it would be a while before that happiness edged out the fear.

Amy walked around the apartment with Micah strapped to her chest, shirt buttoned around him, and humming a soft lullaby. After three weeks off, Ricky had returned to work at the butcher shop, and John had returned to the nursery. He had stayed at home with them for the majority of those weeks, but until Micah was a little older, they’d decided it would be best for him to go back.

In less than a month Ricky would be starting his junior year, and John would be starting kindergarten. Amy had considered going back for a class or two before ultimately deciding to take the fall semester off. Had Micah been born on time she would have missed it anyhow. 

The doctors had been following his progress closely, and were happy with how it was going. He was growing steadily and eating and sleeping as much as he should. They went to the doctor’s every week for his checkups, and each one made her feel better and better. 

They had decided that they would wait a few months for anyone to visit Micah aside from Grace. Grace, of course, took tons of photos and sent them to everyone in the family. It had taken a lot of time to convince her father and Kathleen that they didn’t have to rush home. When they’d been sufficiently reassured, they had actually decided to extend their stay in Italy to give Anne and Ashley more time with Robbie.

Amy had spoken to Anne on the phone a few times since Micah had been born, but the time difference and her crazy sleep schedule made it hard. She preferred to text when she got the chance, but for the most part she had left communicating with their families up to Grace and Ricky.

Since Micah had been born, Ricky had continued to prove how good a father and husband he was. He had been reluctant to return to work, especially because just like John, Micah had been born with the innate ability to know when he was gone.

She was just debating whether or not to make something for dinner when she heard the door open, and John flew in. Even in his excitement he was gentle when he came to hug her. She brushed a hand over his curls. “Where’s your daddy?”

“In the car, I came up all by myself,” he puffed his chest up.

“Did daddy let you come up all by yourself?”

Ricky appeared in the doorway. “No, he did not. I asked him to wait at the bottom of the stairs while I got dinner from the car.”

John scuffed at the floor. “I wanted to see my baby.”

He tilted his head. “I know, but you still have to wait, bud.”

Micah chose that moment to start stirring, quickly letting out a wail. “Alright, you and daddy get ready for dinner while I take care of your brother.”

After feeding him and getting him changed and into his onesie, Amy walked into the kitchen. Ricky grinned when he saw them, immediately holding his arms out. Passing Micah to him, she leaned in to give him a kiss. “Hey.”

“Hey. How was your day?”

“Not bad, Micah slept through most of it, and we went on a little walk. Then while he slept, I cleaned up John’s room, and then did some more skin to skin time. How was yours?”

When he was quiet a beat too long, she pat his shoulder. “You can tell me later.”

“Alright. You and John start eating and I’ll put this one down.”

She smiled gratefully and went to sit at the table. During dinner, John told them about his return to the nursery, and how happy the nursery ladies had been to have him back and to hear about his new brother. Amy hadn’t spoken to the women she worked with other than to tell them she’d be out of work for a while. 

The church offered eight weeks paid maternity leave, and another four unpaid. Had Micah been born when they’d expected, she only would have taken the paid time. Considering everything, she and Ricky had decided they would at least consider using the extra weeks, even if they were unpaid.

After dinner, Amy helped John with his bath. Since Micah was still sleeping, she also got to read him his story. As soon as he was asleep, she left the room, closing the door most of the way behind her. When she walked into the kitchen, she spotted Ricky in the kitchen holding their son to his chest as he heated a bottle.

Since he seemed to have everything under control she only stopped to kiss the top of Micah’s head before going to shower. By the time she emerged, Micah had been fed and changed and put back in the bassinet. Ricky was sitting on the couch just staring at the baby as if he might disappear. 

He looked up when she came in. “He should be good for a while. I’m going to grab a shower really quick.”

She nodded and went to the kitchen to clean up from dinner. Even though Micah was quiet, she went to the bassinet to check on him a few times. When Ricky got out, she was finished, and sitting on the couch. He looked into the kitchen and back at her. “I was going to do that.”

Smiling at how put out he sounded, she shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

“You were home with Micah all day.”

“And you were at work all day.”

He made a face as he came over. “Fine,” he gave her a kiss before sitting beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“So, how was your day?” Her voice was light as she laced their fingers together.

“About as well as I could expect. Bunny told me she could talk to Leo about extending my paternity leave.”

“But you told her no.”

She could practically hear his pout. “Maybe.”

Biting back a smile, she shrugged. “It’s ok if you did. It’s your decision.”

“I just feel weird about asking Leo for anymore favors. Even if I’d like to take more time with you and our sons before school starts,” he sighed. “Things are going to get crazy when I go back. Are you sure I shouldn’t take the semester off too?”

“I’m positive, I managed with John when he was born, and this time I got to take more time off school.”

“Yeah, but we weren’t married then.”

“So not only do I have time off school I have a husband to help me out,” she smiled wryly. “It’s a little late to second guess our decision to have another baby.”

He chuckled. “I’m not, I promise. I’m just a little worried about you.”

“We knew what would happen when the baby came, we talked about it. Micah being born early doesn’t change any of that stuff. He’s doing well, you know that. And so am I. It’s not like you’re going off and leaving me to take care of our children.”

“You’re right, I know you’re right…”

“But?”

“But Ben got in my head again,” he sighed in frustration. 

“What did he say exactly?”

“I honestly don’t even remember. But it was along the lines of me shirking my responsibility as a father like I did with John.”

“You never shirked your responsibility as John’s dad,” she looked up when she felt him staring. “Ok, very rarely. And never since his first birthday and we did our custody agreement. You are an amazing father and a great husband, and you going to work and school to help our family doesn’t take away from that.”

“How do you always know what to say?”

Amy grinned. “I have to, you never listen to anyone else.”


	14. Chapter 14

Ricky woke up on his birthday after a solid eight hours of sleep. It should have made him happy that Amy had let him sleep through the night, but he found that he was a little annoyed. She was the one who had given birth just six weeks earlier, not him. Blinking his eyes open, he immediately smelled breakfast. A smile crept up on him without his permission as fondness welled in his chest.

John had no sooner seen his open eyes before he was jumping up on the bed. “Happy birthday!”

“John,” Amy scolded. “Let daddy sleep.”

“It’s fine, I’m awake,” he yawned, looking towards the kitchen. 

As had been happening more and more frequently since she’d given birth, she was wearing one of his button up shirts. When she turned, he could see the faint outline of Micah in his carrier just underneath with his head sticking out. John continued to fidget excitedly as he knelt on the bed.

“Are you awake now?”

“Yes, bud, I’m awake. What time is it?”

“Morning. Breakfast time.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Of course. Ugh, I guess it’s time to wake up, huh?”

“Mommy wants you to wake up.” 

“Does she?” He sat up, looking towards the kitchen.

“No, I told him to let you sleep as long as you wanted.”

He didn’t have to see her face to know the exact expression she was making- one that bridged between fond and exasperated. Sitting up, he held his arms out for John, who immediately hugged him. “Is it a happy birthday?”

“I just woke up.” Ricky saw John’s disappointment and hugged him again. “Yes, of course it is.”

“Oh, good!”

He crawled away, sliding off the bed and running to his mother. Wrapping his arm around her leg, he rested his head against her hip. She paused momentarily to sweep the hair off his forehead before returning to her cooking. In the last few months, while she’d been pregnant, she’d gotten increasingly interested in cooking, and it turned out with a little help she was actually pretty good. Her meatless spaghetti was still awful though.

Getting up, he stretched, and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he returned to the kitchen, John was still attached to Amy’s leg, but the table had been set. “Morning,” he leaned around their kids to give her a kiss good morning.

Cupping his cheek, she gave him another. “Happy birthday.”

She took a moment to help him take Micah out of the carrier. Holding their baby against his chest, Ricky looked back at her. “I told you I didn’t want to do anything for my birthday. Nothing could top you and Micah being safe after everything.”

AMy waved him off. “We wanted to do something for you. John got you a present, and my dad and Kathleen and Grace dropped off gifts yesterday. You’ve been taking such good care of us, we wanted to take care of you for the day.”

He tilted his head. “It’s my job to take care of you.”

“And it’s my job to take care of you.”

Ricky couldn’t help the smile the spread on his face. Standing there in their little kitchen, with both their sons, while Amy hummed as she chopped up fruit… He couldn’t figure out what he had ever done to get so lucky. 

The day Ricky was going back to school, he found Amy standing in the bathroom, staring at her reflection. She didn’t seem to have noticed him right away, so he spoke up. “If you wanted to know how gorgeous you are, you could have just asked me,” he smirked.

She bit back a smile. “You’re a bit biased.”

“Maybe,” he shrugged, “doesn’t make it any less true.”

“I already married you, you don’t have to butter me up,” she scoffed, returning to her inspection.

He watched her for a few moments. “You know better than anyone how to tell if I’m lying.”

Meeting his eyes in the mirror, she tilted her head. “So?” 

“So, when I tell you you’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen, am I lying?”

Biting her lip she ducked her head to avoid his gaze. He could see the faint blush on her cheeks in the mirror, leaning against the door frame as he waited. Finally she looked up, smiling faintly.

“You’re not lying.”

“Nope. But, you still don’t believe me, so, how about this? You’re an amazing mom. You’re smart and funny and kind and an all around fantastic person. I am madly in love with you, and I’m proud of you. Oh! And you’re sexy as all hell.”

She laughed and rolled her eyes, giving him a kiss on her way by. Micah started crying almost as soon as soon as they’d left the bathroom. When they got to the living room, John sat on the couch quietly, reading a book that was upside down.

Ricky watched as she lifted Micah from the bassinet, holding him against her chest, murmuring soothingly. His heart felt full to the point of spilling over with how much he loved her. 

She changed Micah’s diaper before sitting on the couch beside John, draping a blanket over her chest to feed the baby It wasn’t until Micah was happily eating that she caught him staring. “What?”

It was his turn to blush. “I’m just really happy.”

“Well, if you don’t leave soon, you’ll be late and slightly less happy since you hate being late. You should get going.”

“Yeah…” He didn’t move from his spot. “Are you sure? I could still…”

“I’m positive. Micah and I will be fine, and I’ll drop off and pick up John, just like we planned. We’ll see you tonight at dinner. Say bye to daddy, John.”

John barely looked up from his book smiling brightly. “Bye, daddy!” He was already in a good mood from getting to stay home with Amy and his brother for the morning.

Ricky was quite jealous, suddenly deeply regretting having a day of classes where he wouldn’t get home until dinner time. Since Micah had been born, he had never been more than a few minutes away from he, John, and Amy. Now he’d be at school, nearly an hour away. Just the thought of it sent a spike of anxiety through him.

“But…”

Smiling softly up at him, she shook her head, bringing Micah up to burp him. “But nothing. You can call as many times as you want between classes, but you need to go. We’ll be fine.”

Taking a deep breath to calm himself he nodded. “Ok, ok. Call me if you need anything, ok?”

He gathered his things as slowly as he possibly could. Finally he came to a stop in front of the couch, pressing a kiss to the top of each of their son’s heads. After giving his wife a kiss goodbye he just continued to stand in front of them until she reached out to push him. From the way she was sitting, she had no leverage but the fondness on her face was enough to get him moving.

“I love you.”

Amy beamed up at him. “I love you too,” she tried to push him again, “now go away.”

Walking to the door with a grin on his face he opened it. Before he left he took a moment to look back at them. The three most important people in the world were sitting right in front of him. It was tempting to just stay there, but he forced himself to turn around. He heard Amy whisper something that made John laugh, and his smile only grew as he pulled the door shut behind him.

As soon as Ricky was out of his last class, he started rushing towards the parking lot. He had called Amy a total of six times throughout the day, and even though she’d sounded progressively more exasperated, she had picked up every single time. Anxious to get home and see them, he was slightly annoyed he was in charge of picking up dinner, only increasing the time he was away from his family.

So intent on making it to the lot, it took him a minute to realize someone was calling after him. When he turned around, his impatience only grew more pronounced when he saw Adrian coming towards him. 

She smiled as she came to a stop in front of him. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

“Home.”

“Ahh… I heard Amy had the baby early. Is she ok?”

It had been years since Ricky had known her as well as he once had, so he wasn’t sure if her concern was genuine or not. “She and the baby are doing really well, thanks for asking.”

“And how are you?”

“I’m fine. Anxious to get home, so I gotta…”

He had half spun around when she put a hand on his arm. “Come on, you don’t even have a few minutes to talk to an old friend?”

Sighing, he turned to face her again, taking a step back. “Adrian, whatever we were in the past, we were never really friends.”

“Maybe, but don’t tell me you aren’t bored, cooped up at home with two babies and a wife who never lets you go anywhere or talk to anyone.”

Ricky snorted. “Amy lets me go wherever I want, and if I wanted to talk to you, she wouldn’t care. I’m the one who chooses to spend all my time with her and our sons. And I choose not to talk to you, or return your calls.” He sighed heavily. “How much longer are you going to do this, Adrian?”

“Do what?” She blinked up at him innocently.

“Pretend that I’m somehow trapped and desperate for a way out of my marriage.”

“I know you, Ricky. You’ll never be completely happy married to Amy Juergens and raising her kids.”

He felt anger well up in his chest. “They’re  _ our _ kids. Not just Amy’s. And maybe you knew me once, but I’m a different person now.” 

“People don’t change.”

“People don’t change if they don’t want to. I wanted to change.”

She scoffed. “Oh, please.”

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t care what you think. I have to get home, I’m in charge of getting dinner.”

She leaned forward as if to kiss him, but he backed up. “Goodbye, Adrian.”

The scowl she shot him before he made his escape was scathing, but he didn’t look back. When he got to his car, he took a deep breath, leaning his forehead on the steering wheel for a bare moment. Maybe Amy had been right, maybe they should have moved to New York. While they had very obviously moved on from their past, it seemed determined to keep following them.

After picking up some sandwiches from the store, he headed right home. He had just walked in the door and spotted Amy holding Micah, while John leaned heavily against her, dozing. She didn’t even look up as he came in. “Ben told me you kissed Adrian.”

Her voice was light, and he couldn’t detect any hints of anger. “More accurately, she tried to kiss me.”

Amy smiled when she finally looked at him. “I figured. What did you get for dinner?”

He blinked at her in surprise. “That’s it?”

“Do you want there to be more?”

“You’re not angry with me?”

“For talking to Adrian? No, of course not. We should probably try to minimize our contact with she and Ben though.”

“Yeah, probably. I think we’ve passed the point where we have to try so hard to be nice.”

She ducked her head sheepishly. “I probably should have listened to you about it to start with.”

“Yeah, probably,” he grinned. “Let’s eat, I’m starving.”

“Me too. I’ve been so busy, I haven’t eaten since lunch.”

He frowned. “The doctor said you should be eating a bit every couple hours.”

“I know, I know. But Micah was fussy this afternoon, and by the time I got him down it was time to pick up John…” She shook her head. “Let’s just eat.”

Letting it go for the moment, he washed his hands and changed into his sleep clothes. By the time he emerged, the table had been set and John was wide awake again. He helped Amy get Micah into the baby carrier and then they all sat for dinner.

After the hours of being away from them, it was a relief to be back home. The rest of his days, he would be able to stop at home between work and school, even if it was only a few minutes. He had a feeling it would be a while until he would be able to go more than a few hours without calling Amy. 

Micah slept soundly while they ate. He was at his fussiest in the afternoons and during the night. They spent lots of nights waking up to take care of him, but since he’d gone back to work she had been doing it so he could sleep. Just like with John, it never failed to amaze him what a good mother Amy was. 

When dinner was over, they all cleared the table. Then he helped John with his bath and read him a story to get him to sleep. By the time he got back into the living room, Amy was sitting on the couch with Micah asleep in his bassinet. The doctor had assured them that he was doing perfectly fine, but Amy was still nervous to take him outside too much. 

They had ultimately decided that Amy would take the extra weeks of her maternity leave before returning to the nursery at the beginning of October, when Micah was almost three months old. Sitting beside her, he wrapped an arm around her and she immediately curled into his chest. They just sat there quietly, the soft sounds of the radio from the kitchen floating through the air.

“So did Ben call to tell you?”

“No, I got back from picking up John and realized I’d locked myself out. Bunny gave me the extra key after I promised she could see the baby in a few weeks. I ran into him there.”

“She would have given it to you either way.”

“I know, which is why I promised her. But if she sees him before my dad and Kathleen, all hell will break loose.”

“And Ben actually said I kissed her?”

“Yup. I just said ok, and came upstairs with John and Micah.”

“You didn’t believe it? Even for a second?”

She pulled back for a moment, making a face at him. “No, not even for a second.”

He smiled against her temple. “I love you.”

“I love you too. So, how was school otherwise?”

“You talked to me six times throughout the day, you already know.”

“All I know is that you were much too worried.”

He chuckled. “I could barely concentrate I wanted to come home so badly. I wish I could tell you I’ll be better from now on…”

“But you’d be lying,” she yawned.

“Exactly.”

Shaking her head in amusement, she leaned back to look at him. “Do you think your classes will be hard?”

“Well, I can’t imagine they’ll be easy, but I’ll manage. Honestly, the last few weeks have been good practice for how long I’ll get to sleep the next two semesters.”

“I could take a second semester off, if that would help,” she offered.

“Nope. Between the extra classes I’ve picked up every semester, and going to school last summer, I only have to take one extra next semester, then I can graduate.”

“I’m so proud of you. You’ve been working so hard,” she beamed up at him.

“You’ve been working hard too and I’m proud of you. I just hope you’re proud of yourself.”

“I am, and I’m proud of us. We make a good team.”

“Even when we weren’t we kind of were.”

She snorted. “We tried at least, for John.”

Hiding another yawn behind her hand, she closed her eyes. He jostled her lightly, laughing when she groaned. “Get up so I can pull out the bed. You should get to sleep.”

“Don’t you have to go over your school things?”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t go to sleep. We both have to wake up early in the morning.”

“Right, 8am class for you, and 8am drop off for John.”

“Then Micah’s doctor’s appointment at one, and then work for me. Are you going to keep John with you for the afternoon?”

“Maybe. My boss said he’s a little moody lately when he’s there. It will get better when I go back to work, but it wouldn’t hurt to take him off their hands for a while every day.”

“He’s not misbehaving or anything, is he?”

“No, no. Just sullen and a little ornery. I talked to him, and he said he’d listen better but who knows?”

“Maybe you could ask Kathleen to take him for the afternoon.”

She hummed thoughtfully. “That might be a good idea. By the way, I told my dad he and Kathleen can see Micah next weekend, so they’re coming over here to do that.”

“That’ll be good. He’s much less sensitive the last few weeks. I think that skin to skin thing that the doctor told us to do has been good.”

“They had us do it for John too. As I recall, you tried it like twice.”

“I vaguely remember that,” he hummed thoughtfully, “no wonder you’re his favorite,” he pressed a kiss to her temple.

Elbowing him lightly in the side, she pushed herself to her feet, going to the bassinet. He grinned before standing up himself, starting to undo the couch. Micah started crying so Amy changed him and got him back to sleep as he finished up. By the time it was quiet again, Amy looked exhausted.

She looked longingly towards the bathroom. “I was going to shower, but there’s no way I can stay awake.”

“If you wake up at the same time as me, I can help you.”

Laughing, she nodded. “If that was a pickup line, it was lame. But I will take you up on the offer,” she pointed at him, “no funny business.”

He held up his hands in surrender. “No funny business, promise.”

“Good,” she nodded curtly and disappeared into the bathroom to change.


	15. Chapter 15

A few weeks after Amy returned to work, Ricky came home acting strangely. As they went through their nightly routine, she kept quiet, leaving him to his thoughts.

Once John had been put to bed, and Micah was fast asleep in his bassinet, Ricky settled in to study and she sat on the couch to read. Micah still wasn’t sleeping through the night, but despite his long nap in the afternoons at the nursery, he slept a few hours after dinner.

It was only about half an hour before Ricky started to get fidgety, bouncing his leg and clicking his pen. “If you’re going to ask me to have another baby on our anniversary, I’m gonna have to say no.” She kept her voice light, eyes trained on her book.

All movement stopped and he was silent for a solid minute. “I wasn’t going to. What would make you think that?”

“You’ve been acting weird all night.”

He scoffed. “I have not.”

She raised an eyebrow in his direction. He met her gaze stubbornly for several beats, but he was the first to avert his eyes. “I haven’t been acting weird,” he said petulantly.

Smiling in amusement, she waited for him to look up again, watching as he sighed softly. Predictably he got up, carrying the chair over and setting it in front of her. He took a moment to press a kiss to Micah’s head before he sat down himself.

“I wasn’t going to tell you… but Leo found another business seminar he wants me to go to over the long weekend next week.”

“Why is that something to be weird about?”

“Because, I would be gone four days.”

“So?”

“So, Grace is going to be at school, and your dad and Kathleen are going out of town.”

“So?”

He looked at her in exasperation. “You’d be alone with Micah and John while I’m gone.”

“I can take care of our sons for a few days without you. You should go, I know you like those things Leo sends you to.”

“But I don’t like leaving you. We’ve never been away from each other more than a day or two since you went to New York.”

She shrugged. “It’s just a few more than when you spend a weekend without us. You haven’t taken time for yourself in a while, and I know you, you’re getting a bit restless.”

“You haven’t taken any time for yourself since Micah was born.” He crossed his arms, on the verge of pouting.

“Maybe not a full days worth, but I’ve taken time when I needed it. Besides, I don’t have that same unsettled feeling you get sometimes.”

Annoyance was written all over his face. “Well, why don’t you?” 

“Probably because we had different expectations out of life. You never expected to want to be married with children, and I know you’re happy, but it didn’t completely change you as a person. So even though I know you love me and our kids, you still need to be by yourself sometimes.”

Ricky blinked at her in surprise. “You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

Amy tilted her head, smiling softly. “Of course I have. I never want you to feel trapped here. I trust that if I give you your space, you’ll always come back home to me. I never want you to have any doubts about us.”

“I don’t, I never do,” he sat on the edge of the chair, leaning over to give her a kiss. “I don’t even know why I ever need time away, I’m always happiest when I’m here.”

“There doesn’t have to be a reason. It’s enough that it’s what you want.”

“But I’d be taking off and leaving you with John and Micah.  _ Our _ sons.”

She scooted forward, putting her hand on his knee. “If I ever wanted to go away for a few days, you would do the same for me.”

He snorted. “If you needed a weekend away from me, you would probably take them with you.”

“Ok, yes, maybe. But you would trust me to take care of them and come home after a few days. What makes this different?”

“I don’t know.”

“There isn’t much difference,” she smiled. “So go to your conference seminar thing, and have a good time. Or don’t and go somewhere else for a few days. Me and the boys will be fine.”

Ricky brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “I’m not sure what I ever did to deserve you, Amy Juergens.”

Smirking, she squeezed his leg lightly. “It’s Amy Underwood, actually.”

He stared at her for a long moment, and when he leaned in to kiss her, she could feel his grin against her lips.

Amy was home with Micah one day when there was a knock at the door. Ricky and John were out at the park, and she hadn’t been expecting anyone. The back way was locked, and there weren’t too many people that Bunny would let come up through the butcher shop.

With Micah in one arm, she opened the door, surprised to see Grace standing there. “Help.”

Stepping aside without a word, she let her pass, closing the door. Grace collapsed on the couch immediately, waiting for Amy to sit down too. “Ok, what’s up?”

“You’ll never guess who I ran into today.”

“If I’ll never guess, why don’t you just tell me?”

Smiling wryly, her step sister nodded. “I ran into Daniel.”

“Daniel? Ex-boyfriend Daniel? Future doctor near-genius Daniel?”

“Yes, gees,” Grace glared. “Why do you sound so excited?”

“Because Daniel is a nice guy, really only slightly less nice than some of the women you’ve dated.”

Grace snorted. “Well, that’s true. He asked me out for coffee.”

“And?”

“And I went. It was nice, we talked. Then he asked me out to dinner.”

“And you said…?”

“I said maybe my sister and brother in law might want to see him again.”

Amy blinked at her, adjusting her hold on Micah. “Your ex-boyfriend asked you out to dinner, and you made it a double date.”

“Er…”

Her eyes narrowed. “Er, what?”

“I sort of told him that he should meet my godson. And then proceeded to talk about Micah and John for about ten minutes.”

“You made a date with your ex-boyfriend a family gathering?”

“Well, technically, yes. But just you and Ricky and your kids. I didn’t invite him to a family dinner,” she shuddered, “he never really met your father.”

Amy winced. “That’s probably not a first date activity. But neither is going to dinner with your sister and her family. Particularly since I’m not sure he likes me very much.”

“It’s not our first date! And I think once he met you he liked you. But he likes John, and Ricky, and babies…” Her eyes were wide. “Please?”

“Alright, fine. When is this?”

“Uh…”

Blowing out a breath, Amy rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Is ‘uh’ my anniversary?”

“Yes… But in my defense, I was flustered and I didn’t remember until after we’d made plans. I can call and reschedule.”

“No, no. Fine, we’ll do it. But you’re taking John for the weekend now. And I would not tell him it’s our anniversary… and you can be the one to tell Ricky.”

The door swung open and John ran in. “Tell Ricky what?” 

Smiling at her husband, Amy glanced at Grace sidelong. “Grace?”

“Don’t be mad.”

Ricky immediately frowned at his sister-in-law. “You know I hate it when people say that. What? Did Ben do something? Adrian?”

“No, no,” Amy stood up and passed Micah to him. “Nothing like that.” Putting a hand on his arm, she gave him a kiss.

“Daniel asked me out to dinner and now all of us are going out with him on Tuesday,” Grace’s words came out in a whoosh.

Looking at his wife, he raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“Grace ran into Daniel and they went out for coffee. It went well, so he asked her to dinner. She told him that we’d have dinner with them.”

“When?”

“Tuesday,” Grace clasped her hands in her lap, looking anywhere but Ricky.

“Tuesday? Our anniversary?”

“That’s the one.”

“Grace!”

Smiling sheepishly, she finally met his eye. “Whoops?”

He huffed out a reluctant laugh. “So that’s how we’re spending our second anniversary?”

“Yes, but Grace will be taking John over the weekend, and we’ll celebrate then. We just won’t tell Daniel it’s our anniversary that night.”

He shrugged, looking towards his wife. “As long as it’s ok with you.”

“We have a lifetime of anniversaries. This way we get the whole weekend.”

Ricky smirked, giving her another kiss. “I like the way you think.” He looked over her shoulder at Grace, who still sat on the couch. “You know we’re still not really taking Micah out to anywhere but daycare. So, you and Daniel will have to come over here.”

“That’s fine! I can pick up food, or cook!”

“You’re a worse cook than Amy is.”

“Hey!” Amy punched his arm. “You said I’ve gotten much better.”

He grinned. “That would still mean Grace is worse than you.”

Amy shut the door behind Grace and Daniel, leaning back against it. Ricky opened his mouth to say something but she pressed her finger to her lips. Rolling his eyes, he returned to clearing the table. It was several minutes before she spoke. “You saw that, right?”

He glanced up at her. “That look? Of course I did. They’re almost as nauseating as we are.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, sticking her lip out in a mock pout. “We are not nauseating.”

“We’re an unbearably cute family, and half the time we can’t keep our hands off each other. Trust me, we’re nauseating.”

The way she fought back a grin brought a smile to his face as well. When she began to look intensely thoughtful, he got a little nervous. “You’ve kept your hands to yourself since Micah was born.”

Ricky stopped what he was doing, raising an eyebrow. “We’re not in high school anymore. I have learned not to be such a jackass when you don’t want to have sex. Honestly, I’m sorry I was ever such a dick about it… Definitely not my finest moments.”

Her nose crinkled. “No, they were not. But you got your act together.”

He snorted. “Thank God. I don’t know why you ever put up with that bullshit.”

“I didn’t really. I never gave in just because you wanted to have sex. I waited until I was ready. And despite being kind of an ass about it, you waited until I was ready too. You never cheated on me, even though I know you were tempted,” her voice was teasing.

“I wasn’t about to mess up what we had. Sometimes I loved you so much it hurt,” his expression softened, “sometimes I still do.” 

The expression she shot him was just as soft and it made his breath catch in his chest. He loved how after three and a half years together Amy could go from making him feel warm and safe and calm to giving him butterflies. It was impossible to imagine having anything even close to what they had with anyone but her.

Finally she ducked her head, a slight blush on her cheeks. “So what do you think about Grace and Daniel?”

Humming thoughtfully, he resumed clearing the table. “Why did they break up again?”

“Grace realized she was bi and wanted to try dating women.”

“They parted on good terms… I don’t know. Either they’ll get back together and make it work, or it will fizzle out.”

She made a face. “Let’s just be thankful she’s not looking at Jack like that again.”

“Jack is another high school friend who in retrospect was just a creep.”

“We knew a lot of them apparently. Can you imagine if she was still dating Jack? Or if I had ended up with Ben?” Amy shuddered.

He sent her a sour look. “Don’t say things like that. You deserved better than him.”

“And I got it.”

It was his turn to blush. “I always told you he wasn’t your type.”

“You were right,” she shrugged.

“As I so often am,” he winked.

She shook her head in amusement as she walked closer, putting a hand on his arm. “Happy anniversary.”

“Thank you for marrying me,” his voice was hushed.

Amy cupped his cheek, a hint of a smile on her face. “Thank you for loving me.”

He scoffed. “Like I ever had a choice.”

Her face lit up as she laughed, resting her forehead against his shoulder. Wrapping his arms around her, he pressed a kiss to her temple. He could feel her smile through the fabric of his shirt and in that moment, everything in the world made sense.


	16. Epilogue:

Ricky shut the car door, turning to say something to Amy, only to realize she wasn’t there. Smiling in amusement he headed back inside. He found her standing in the doorway to the apartment, Micah balanced on her hip with his head resting on her shoulder as he slept.

“You ready?”

She startled, turning to face him. “We’ve lived here a long time.”

“Leo said it’s still ours. Anytime we’re back, we can stay here.”

Sighing, she nodded. “No, I know… But it won’t be the same.”

He knew what she meant. They had lived in that tiny apartment since her junior year of high school. Now they were both graduated from college. Ricky had been put in charge of Leo’s new butcher shop in New York, and Amy had gotten into grad school. It was going to be a huge change.

Wrapping an arm around her he pressed a kiss to her temple. “We’ll be a family no matter where we go.”

Amy smiled. “John is so excited that he might see snow for the first time.”

“And Grace is excited to start medical school, and your dad and Kathleen are excited to live nearby. I’m excited for a well paying job and a bigger apartment for John and Micah to run around in. You’re excited for grad school.”

She stared at the apartment for another few moments before she turned around. “A whole new adventure for all of us.”

He shut the door and locked it as she shifted Micah to her other hip. Grasping her elbow, he leaned over to give her a kiss. “There is no one I would rather start this adventure with.”

Cupping his cheek, she kissed him again. “Me neither. Now let’s go, we’re supposed to be on the road in an hour and we still have to pick up John and make sure Grace and Daniel are all set to go.”

“I bet you five dollars Grace isn’t even all packed.”

Amy scoffed walking towards the stairs. “I’m not stupid enough to take that bet.”

  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
